Pacers president Donnie Walsh told ESPN.com on Friday that Ron Artest will begin practicing with the team as early as Monday.

"When the original suspensions came down, the league wouldn't allow Ron to practice with team this season," Walsh told ESPN.com. "We went to them with Ronnie and made our case that they can't disallow him to practice. It wasn't healthy. You're isolating him. He's a part of our team, and we felt like it was doing unnecessary damage to him and the team by not even allowing him in the building."

The league eventually relented, and the Pacers are welcoming the 25-year-old forward back.  This does not at all mean that the NBA has reduced the suspension.