By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer Published 9:39 pm PDT Monday, April 24, 2006 SAN ANTONIO - Ron Artest strolled through a San Antonio mall Monday afternoon, surrounded by the chaos and cheer of the local celebration dubbed "Fiesta." But the Kings forward was in no mood for a party, having learned that morning he would miss Game 2 of the Kings-San Antonio first-round playoff series because of a league-issued suspension. Artest delivered an elbow to the face of Spurs guard Manu Ginobili in the third quarter of the Kings' Game 1 loss Saturday, a play that later was reviewed the league. Stu Jackson, NBA senior vice president of basketball operations, issued the one-game suspension. Artest, who went two days without speaking to the media and gave a short statement after Monday's practice without fielding any questions, discussed his suspension by phone with The Bee on Monday afternoon. Q: Good to talk to you again, Ron. How you doing? A: It's really, really disappointing. The good thing about it is we've got more games. I would've been really upset if it was like Game 4, or Game 7. I would've been really upset. I just look at it as, we've got more games left, and it's still a disappointment. It's disappointing for me, for Sacramento, for the whole organization. They're changing the game from how it was back in the days, back when the game was really hardcore. The game was so hardcore back when Larry Bird played and Bill Walton and those guys. Those guys were playing hard. Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, the Detroit Pistons. Those guys were playing flat-out hard and aggressive. And now, it's like they're changing the game. It's a new game. All the records that everybody's setting, like LeBron James and all these new stars, they're very good, but it's not like it was back in the day. All the scoring titles and everything; it's easier to score now. The whole game is so soft now. Q: Was that a payback shot (on Ginobili)? A: It wasn't even a payback shot. It was just like defensive aggressive awareness. I'm in the paint, and it's just, "You're not going to be into my lane." Both elbows were pulled back. I pulled them back so they wouldn't hit anybody, you know what I'm saying? I pulled it back because I'd seen (Spurs forward Tim Duncan) could've got hit with one of my elbows, so I made sure I didn't hit him. If anything, it was (an) over the back (foul on Artest) because I went aggressive for the ball over his back. Even with Ginobili, my arms were up the whole time. My arms went up first. Q: So you don't feel like you went headhunting? A: No, I wasn't headhunting. They said I was, but I wasn't. If I didn't have a history of doing (stuff) - that's why they didn't have to put me on the Olympic team and stuff like that. You know, it's like another good excuse ... to take things away from me that I've worked so hard to achieve. It's just more good excuses. I just think these people get together and try to team up on me. They're doing a good job. Q: Do you think things like the brawl last year have sped up the league's shift towards tightening up things? A: The game's changed a lot. You've got to adjust to the softer game now. It's very soft, but it's hard to understand what they're trying to accomplish with the changes in the game. I was watching a game on ESPN Classic today, and guys are fighting each other and stuff. Nobody got kicked out. That's a long time ago. And this is just a minor, minor, minor incident, and they could've given me a flagrant one and a fine, but they want to take a whole game. It's very disappointing. If it was a foul, then, yeah, it's cool. But it wasn't like I threw an elbow at him, and the referees were right there. I didn't throw no elbow. I spoke to Stu Jackson, and he told me he did it because of all my other problems that I had throughout my career. I'll be back. It's just not right, but I'll be back. --

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