Ron Artest doesn't want to be traded by the Indiana Pacers after all, his agent says.

Artest said last weekend that his past in Indiana haunts him, and he is interested in being traded to the New York Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers.

But Mark Stevens, Artest's agent, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Artest holds out hope he can remain with the Pacers.

"At this moment, we're not going to put the buggy before the horse," Stevens said. "We're waiting to hear from (Pacers president) Donnie Walsh, the gentleman and scholar that he is, and hope this can be resolved to where there won't have to be a trade."

Teammate Stephen Jackson said Artest called him Friday night, and hopes his teammate will return.

"He wants to play basketball, that's all he wants to do," Jackson said before the Pacers played the New York Knicks. "He wants to play basketball, he wants to win.