Whilst in Chicago Ron Artest was thought of as a highly skilled but highly volatile player.  He wanted to be in Chicago and was already one of the NBA's best defenders in only his third season, but with a contract extension coming up the Bulls were unsure of his mental stability.

Chicago traded the talented forward half way through last season with a number of his teammates to Indiana for Jalen Rose, and until last night the winning situation seems to have done wonders for his temper.  Artest had been playing like an All-Star, he had improved his offensive game and he had become one of the most feared defenders in the NBA.

As Artest walked through the tunnel towards the locker room after a stinging 98-96 loss to the Knicks in front of his home crowd in New York, he picked up a television monitor and slammed it to the concrete floor. He then knocked a camera off the shoulder of a Madison Square Garden network employee who was filming the action, breaking it into pieces.

According to Mark Montieth of the Indianapolis Star cost estimates of the camera, a new high-definition model, range from $100,000 to $150,000.

Artest, who had a chance to put the Pacers into the lead by one point late in the game but missed a lefty putback, was caught on video by several television photographers and is likely to draw a fine and possibly a suspension from the NBA office.

Artest was unavailable for comment, but his teammates all stood by his side.

"That's a situation he has to deal with," Jermaine O'Neal said. "Obviously, Ron is an emotional guy and hopefully he learns from it. I'm sure the bill will help him."

It is no secret that Artest wants to play well in New York for a variety of reasons.  New York is where he grew up, where all his friend reside, and the Knicks were the team which rejected him in favor of French center Frederick Weis in the 1999 NBA Draft.

"He wanted to win this game bad and he didn't have the game he wanted to have," O'Neal said. "That's tough on a player sometimes."

"When I go back to Portland (where O'Neal began his NBA career) I have a tough time playing because you want to do so well."

"It just shows he cares about the game. I respect that. It doesn't bother me at all," added Brad Miller, one of the other players to cross from the Bulls to the Pacers with Artest.  "I love playing with Ron."