Kings notes: Artest keeps feelings personal

CHARLOTTE. N.C. – Ron Artest put a Kings uniform back on Friday, perhaps happy about it and perhaps not, perhaps planning to leave the team in another few months and perhaps not.

A day after the trade deadline passed without an Artest deal, the forward refused to define whether this was good news or not, saying, "I ain't got no comment. The most important thing is winning. That's the only thing that makes me happy."

Before the game against the Charlotte Bobcats, Artest sang in the locker room and sounded upbeat in conversation but also noticeably avoided a commitment to the Kings. He would not say he was happy the trade deadline passed. He would not clarify contradictory statements that he probably would opt out of his contract to become a free agent July 1 (Artest's past comment) or probably would not opt out (Artest's agent on Thursday).

"Not sure," he said when asked what happens in the summer. "I'm not worried about it. Vacation."

He must have some thoughts on his plans, he was told.

"I don't know," Artest replied. "From what I read in the blogs, everyone hates me."

The Kings have two more months before the regular season ends. In the meantime, they have a starting small forward playing at a very high level, distractions or not, uncertainty or not.

"To be honest with you," coach Reggie Theus said, "I think he had let that go a while back. I couldn't put a timeline on that. But he's been pretty much our leader on the floor. I just think he's in a very comfortable place. That's good for us."

Et cetera – Charlotte's Gerald Wallace left the court in a neck brace while immobilized on a stretcher after suffering a concussion from an inadvertent elbow by the Kings' Mikki Moore in the third quarter.

Wallace, a former King, was hit in the nose and immediately fell to the court. He spent the next 10 minutes there, mostly on his stomach, mostly with the crowd hushed, before leaving for a waiting ambulance.

The Bobcats later said he also was experiencing "a slight case of amnesia," but Wallace was released and planned to spend the night at home while the team traveled to Washington.

• Referee Joe Crawford left the game in the first quarter with flu symptoms. The other officials, Leroy Richardson and Phil Robinson, worked the rest of the night as a two-man crew.

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