Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest was suspended for four games without pay by the NBA Wednesday for his confrontation with Miami Heat coach Pat Riley and for making obscene gestures to players, coaches and fans.
It is the second time this month that Artest has fallen foul in the NBA. Following a loss in New York, he smashed a TV monitor and camera and was handed a three-game suspension.
Artest's latest ban, announced by NBA senior vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson, will begin with Wednesday's game against the San Antonio Spurs and run until Feb. 11, costing the player US$66,000 in pay.
Tempers flared in the fourth quarter of Monday's 102-95 win over the Heat after Artest confronted Riley, taunted the Miami bench, fouled Caron Butler and made an obscene gesture toward fans.
"I want to apologize to the fans, especially to the kids," said Artest during a news conference at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
"[The gesture] was definitely not at the fans, it was toward the Miami bench. I don't want to say toward who but it was at the Miami bench."
The Eastern Conference leaders will miss Artest, rated one of the league's top defensive players, averaging 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.07 steals per game.
"I'm not a hot-headed type of person," said Artest, who was also fined and ejected from a game with the Dallas Mavericks in December after fighting with Raja Bell.
"Sometimes I do things on the court that give them (referees) that impression.
"But it's not like I'm out there starting fights or trying to hurt anybody, I give you my personal word. I play with passion.
"After that, there's nothing else that I can say or do that will show you that I'm not that type of person on the court."
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