Phil is up to the challenge and for that alone, this Lakers fan is relieved. Artest is a wingnut but so was Jackson in his playing days...Phil has a way with people and Ron seems to want to be a part of something more than infamy.

L.A. is a pretty forgiving town as evidenced by Kobe's trial, Manny's suspension and all the Hollywood celebrity mishaps. We will remain leery but embrace Ron and hope for the best.

GO LAKERS!

I say the Lakers got the best of this player swap.

Ok, Trevor is younger; Artest is all about the D and rebounds. He's like an angry cat and you don't mess with an angry cat that's also a headcase.

This should also mean Kobe doesn't always have to guard the opponent's best offensive player. The Lakers team should follow the leader and become a far better defensive team.

Yes, I read that in your blog.

By the way...

Isn't a Los Angeles team doctor clearing Phil Jackson to coach another season kind of a conflict of interest?

That's kind of like putting Bill Clinton in charge of the White House Internship program. ;-)

As I noted on my blog I'm not a big Artest fan although I do accept that he is talented. He is tougher than Ariza but shorter term than Ariza. I think this came down to something we don't know about. It doesn't make sense that Ariza got in a huff about the same money that he immediately signed with Houston for. He moved too quickly. There has to be more to this story. He didn't even shop around.

Amazing isn't it that we've quickly gone from Championship to "Artest is the key to whether the Lakers repeat or not.". He's that much impact one way or the other on this Laker team. He can't act out and us win. Got my fingers crossed.