EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Somewhere along the way, the villain became the eccentric. Ron Artest morphed from unpredictably dangerous to merely unpredictable. His soundtrack is no longer the Darth Vader theme, but Looney Tunes.

One moment, Artest is sinking his team’s fortunes with impulsive, ill-advised jump shots. The next, he is sending the Los Angeles Lakers into delirium with a game-winning layup.

Around here, they treat Artest like a wacky uncle — odd but harmless, sometimes infuriating yet still lovable. Just do not ask anyone to explain him.

“I certainly can’t,” Coach Phil Jackson said Friday, the day after Artest’s improbable, buzzer-beating shot gave the Lakers a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.

“Unique,” forward Pau Gasol said.

When the Lakers talk about Artest, the brawny, 30-year-old small forward, they are invariably smiling, their expressions conveying both warmth and chagrin. Artest is beloved by teammates and coaches for his ferocity, his loyalty and his deep sense of commitment. There is nothing he would not do to win.

Also, there is nothing he would not do, period.

The Lakers have seen Artest attempt shots that defy reason. They have seen him board the team bus in his underwear, carrying his breakfast. On Friday, with the city still abuzz over his Game 5 heroics, Artest arrived 90 minutes late to practice. Jackson promptly fined him.

As Jackson put it, Artest “has a penchant for little things tripping him up in the process,” like reading a schedule incorrectly and showing up late. “So he is kind of dogged by his own nature.”

It has been this way throughout Artest’s 11-year career with the Chicago Bulls, the Indiana Pacers, the Sacramento Kings, the Houston Rockets and the Lakers. He is fierce but flaky, dependably undependable. And, in his worst moments, frighteningly impulsive.

Artest forever tarnished his reputation when he incited a player-fan brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills in November 2004. He earned a 73-game suspension and a permanent place in the pantheon of sports rogues.

All indications are that Artest has left his troubles in his past. In his last two stops — Houston and Los Angeles — he has been a model citizen on and off the court. His temper is under control, although his game often is not.

Late Thursday night, in a typical Ron-being-Ron moment, he launched two straight jump shots — both misses — with nearly the entire arena groaning in protest. The Lakers were leading the Phoenix Suns by 3 points with about a minute left and needed to make smart plays.

Artest is a fantastic defender and occasionally a decent 3-point shooter, but his shot selection is suspect, a fact that Lakers fans know all too well. Opponents do, too, which is why the Suns have been leaving Artest open, daring him to shoot.

“We usually tell Ron and Lamar, ‘There’s a reason why you’re open,’ ” Jackson said, referring to Artest and Lamar Odom. “We believe you can hit them, but you have to have good judgment when you do.”

Asked how well Artest was doing, Jackson said with a grin: “Not very well. There’s still room for improvement.”

Artest is shooting 39 percent from the field in the playoffs, and 24.4 percent on 3-pointers.

Of his two late misses Thursday, the second was the more befuddling. The shot clock had been reset by Artest’s first miss, and the Lakers could have run another 20 seconds or so off the game clock. Instead, he launched the 3-point try.

When TNT interviewed Artest about that shot after the game, he gave a typically obtuse explanation.

“Well, you know, just playing basketball,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean, there was a point in time when I shot 40 percent from the 3. I got to play, you know.”

Before ending the interview, Artest gave a shout-out to Queensbridge, the poor section of Queens where he was raised. Then he asked the TNT reporter, Craig Sager, to do the same. “Queensbridge,” Sager said, to Artest’s delight.

The interview nearly did not happen. After hitting the game-winner — by catching Kobe Bryant’s long air ball and flipping it back to the basket — Artest celebrated with teammates, then sprinted to the locker room, by himself.

“I just wanted to go to the locker room and move on to Game 6,” he said.

Artest used some version of the phrase “move on” a dozen times Thursday and Friday, saying he did not want to spend much time dwelling on the moment, although it was surely a career highlight.

“When I was young, I would stay in the moment, I would stay in the past,” he said. “I wish I could enjoy it more, but there’s nothing to enjoy.”

Perhaps it is because of his upbringing in the projects of Queensbridge, or because so many other moments in Artest’s career were best left in the past. As he said, “Good or bad, move on.”

Now, Artest has a permanent place in Lakers playoff lore, next to Magic Johnson’s baby hook, Robert Horry’s 3-pointers and Derek Fisher’s 0.4 shot. For the second time in his career, Artest is on a constant replay loop, but this time as the good guy.

“Well, you know, I don’t mind being in the outhouse, I don’t mind being the goat, I don’t mind being the villain, hated,” Artest said. “I’ve been that my whole career.”

Determined to stay in the moment, Artest said he had not dared to imagine what it would feel like to win his first championship, a goal that is now five victories away. But if he gets there, he just might let himself enjoy it.

“I think so,” he said. “I think if God blesses me, if he allows me to have that, I will.”

By Howard Beck

"From the Intro of the new Busta Album your going to know your [sic] in trouble and you just turned on 2012 the movie on warp speed."

After an attempt to return back his vintage days on Back On My BS, Busta Rhymes is taking yet another shot of reviving the past for the new generation.

Taking a trip in the past back to 1998, the rapper returns to the present to bring a sequel in the form of Extinction.Level.Event 2.

Damn...another sequel New York???

According to manager Chris Lighty, who announced the album through Twitter, the project found its inspiration through films of pending destruction and doom on planet Earth, like its predecessor.

Breeding hits such as “Tear Da Roof Off” and “What's It Gonna Be” featuring Janet Jackson, Bussa Bus is showing the new school how the old school used to get things done.

Without a release date as of yet, there is also no word if this project will replace The Chemo, which is expected to drop this summer, or will just serve as another treat from the rapper for the fans.

Eminem receives the Nielsen SoundScan “Artist of the Decade” award, recognizing him as the top-selling artist of the decade with sales exceeding 32,000,0000 units. The award was presented to Eminem by Nielsen Entertainment President Eric Weinberg and Nielsen Entertainment’s Retail Relations Vice President Chris Muratore.

Eminem is the biggest selling artist for the decade with more than 32 million album sales followed by The Beatles (30.2 million), Tim McGraw (24.8 million), Toby Keith (24.5 million) and Britney Spears (22.9 million), according to Nielsen SoundScan.


The Beatles’ Beatles 1 album was the biggest selling album for the decade with 11.6 million album sales. N’Sync’s No Strings Attached is the second biggest selling album with 11.1 album sales and Come Away with Me by Norah Jones lands at #3 with 10.6 million sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Eminem’s upcoming Aftermath/Interscope release, Recovery, is scheduled for a June 22 release.