Metta refuses to shake Harden’s hand

 Just makes this series even better in my opinion!  Looking forward to it a lot.

Hmmm… I was about to get on MWP for this, but then I thought about it.

The Lakers need this. This is the playoffs… He served his suspension and lost his money. This isn’t the time to be nice. Apologizing is over.

MWP doesn’t have to be a better player than Harden… He just needs to lock up on defense and hit open shots.

 The funny thing is Metta isn’t half the player Harden is right now.

 The funny thing is Metta isn’t half the player Harden is right now.

While I do hate this, what Artest did, and dirty players in general…this is pretty much a tactic to get under OKC players and fans skin

 Meh, who cares about this? I know James Harden doesn’t. I think he is just going to go out and ball. Let world peace talk and watch James harden do his thing. 

Metta was on the radio a week ago saying he won’t appologize to harden because he knows they still have games left. He said something along the lines of I don’t want to be friends with people I’m playing. I’m assuming he knows an apology is obvious and he owes one , but harden probably doesn’t care right now about that and neither does he. They have business on their mind.

 This is e playoffs and the season is still going on so why should he to up and shake his hand?  Bad enough the NBA has gotten softer but now I see the fans have as well. Alonzo didn’t shake L.J hands during their playoff match. The Knicks didn’t shake Pippen or Jordan’s hands during their playoff battles when they threw elbows,threw them down out the air, clothes lines etc. It’s sad that this new softer NBA has turn fans like this, I’m guessing it’s younger fans who know no better because they don’t remember back when a flagrant foul was nothing but a hard playoff foul

 First of all Harden should get Greg Oden to dick slap Artest.

Secondly though and most importantly I hope this motivates James Harden to really make a huge impact on this series, so Artest can once again hear it from his own teammates about what an idiot he is when they lose to the Thunder.

During the playoffs, you have to go into a different mindset. Kobe does it. MJ used to do it. Bird used to do it. They weren’t your friend, didn’t care about apologizing, etc.

I like this. I hope MWP doesn’t think twice about giving him a hard legal foul if need be.

RonRon was really, really sorry afterwards.  Like REALLY sorry.

 Harden is going to kick his azz and make him sorry during the playoffs. This isn’t 4 or 5 years ago when every guard feared MWP.

Lakers are going to win this series, and you can quote me for this!

If I’m any OKC player… and particularly Harden, I’m gonna screw with MWP. Everytime I’d get close to Ron Ron I’d be getting in his ear telling him to “Elbow me Ron!”

Artest has to be the dumbest most wreckless guy I’ve ever seen in the NBA. He reminds me of a giant 10 year old with no conscious. Even when he gets caught doing something stupid on FILM like “the Elbow” he tries to explain it away. He knew exactly what he was doing from windup to follow through but just figured if he wasn’t looking Hardens way be could say it was an accident… heat of the moment scenario, which is exactly what he said post game. He changed his story after seeing the film and realizing how stupid that sounded and that no one would believe him. Then he says he got carried away. How do you get carried away throwing an elbow like that?

OKC needs to get under his skin. You won’t win a physical battle against MWP so you need to get into his head. I’d call him names, tell him he’s a POS, tell him to elbow me cause thats what thugs do! Common badass! Ron Ron is such a freak he’ll take the bait… but if he doesn’t you know he’ll be thinking about everything your saying which should screw with him just enough to help you out.

i just listened to the actual interview and this thread is misleading. He didnt say he refuses to shake hardens hand and he didnt say "i dont shake substitutes hands" as a way to take a dig at harden even though thats how the tabloids are spinning it. He said that when walking out onto the court, guys will go up to each other before the jump ball and shake hands. The reporter asked if he would shake hardens hand and artest said "he doesnt start". The reporter then followed up with will you make a point of going over to the bench to shake his hand and he responded with "nah i’ve never done that, went and shook the subs hands".

He can keep changing his name but we all remember what happened at the Palace of Auburn Hills.  I’m sure he will shake Harden’s hand once they lose the series.  Thunder in 5. 

 …to say it like it was a dig.  He said that he won’t go out of his way to shake hands with Harden.  After they are done playing, I bet he will do something.