Metta Sandiford-Artest Reveals Why Pacers Didn't Win Championships During His Tenure

The former Indiana All-Star has a theory.

April 6, 2004; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana's Ron Artest takes a break during game action. The Indianapolis Pacers hosted the New York Knicks Tuesday night April 6 2004 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis IN. The Pacers won the game 107-86. Mandatory Credit: Sam Riche-USA TODAY NETWORK / The Indy Star-USA TODAY NETWORK

Metta Sandiford-Artest, the artist formerly known as Ron Artest, took to his official X account on Thursday in an effort to explain why the team where he thrived the most individually, the Indiana Pacers, never won it all during his tenure there. The team also hasn't won any other NBA championships during its years without Sandiford-Artest available.

If Johnathan Bender was not hurt with the @Pacers , I would not have been starting or starting at the 2 and we would’ve won three straight titles. Or 2.

— Head Coach Metta (@MettaWorld37) December 26, 2024

Sandiford-Artest claims that health issues plaguing jumbo-sized wing Jonathan Bender, who at 6-foot-11 was a unique NBA prospect for the small forward position, were to blame for their Pacers squads never quite achieving their full potential.

Bender had been selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft, and was rounding into form for Indiana during his best season with the franchise — 2001-02, also Sandiford-Artest's first year there. Bender played a career-most 78 games (17 starts), averaging a career-high 7.4 points on .430/.360/733 shooting splits in 21.1 minutes. He also grabbed 3.1 rebounds across those games.

But Bender's luck quickly ran out. A string of knee injuries in the intervening seasons saw Bender available for 76 games, total, across the next four years with Indiana. He made a brief comeback with the 2009-10 New York Knicks after three years out of the NBA.

Sharpshooting Hall of Fame swingman Reggie Miller, a five-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA honoree, was a seasoned veteran by the team Sandiford-Artest joined the fun and Bender had started rounding into form.

Indiana has only been to the NBA Finals once, in 2000. Led by All-Stars Miller and Dale Davis, plus Most Improved Player Jalen Rose, the Pacers notched a 56-26 record under head coach Larry Bird, vanquishing Eastern Conference Hall of Famers like Ray Allen, Allen Iverson, and Patrick Ewing in successive rounds en route to their six-game Finals defeat, against Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers. Artest was still with the Chicago Bulls at the time. The Pacers have, of course, won three times in the ABA, in 1970, 1972 and 1973. That dynastic squad was (ahem) paced by Hall of Famers Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, and Roger Brown.

Sandiford-Artest was traded to Indiana halfway through the 2001-02 season, along with wing Ron Mercer, center Brad Miller, and point guard Kevin Ollie, in exchange for a second round draft pick, Rose, point guard Travis Best, and shooting guard Norman Richardson. The club failed to get out of the first round of the East playoffs in either of Artest's first seasons.

Under head coach Rick Carlisle (who's back in charge this year, incidentally), the 2003-04 Pacers emerged as the class of the conference, alongside the Detroit Pistons.

Indiana finished with a 61-21 overall record. Sandiford-Artest made his first and only All-Star team while nabbing Defensive Player of the Year honors. Eventually, the Pacers advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they fell to eventual champion Detroit 4-2.

Tensions between the Pacers and Pistons simmered to a boil the next fall, during the infamous "Malice at the Palace" brawl on Detroit's home turf November 19, 2004. Sandiford-Artest, All-Star center Jermaine O'Neal, and wing Stephen Jackson were all suspended for their involvement in the two-team fracas indefinitely. Sandiford-Artest was ultimately suspended for 86 total games (the rest of the regular season and the playoffs), the most time lost due to an on-court brawl in the history of the league.

The 2004-05 Pacers finished with a 44-38 overall record and were vanquished in the first round by Detroit, en route to its second straight NBA Finals. Miller retired after the season.

Upon returning to the club the next fall, Sandiford-Artest could barely stand to be there. He suited up for just 16 contests with the 2005-06 Pacers before demanding to be traded. He was flipped to the Sacramento Kings in January for Peja Stojakovic.

Sandiford-Artest would go on to win his lone league championship as the starting small forward for the 2010 Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game Finals series against the Boston Celtics. In so doing, he defeated former All-Star Pistons power forward Rasheed Wallace, then a backup in Boston.

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