KW Titans newcomer looking to blaze his own trail to the NBA

Basketball was never really in the plans.

Even when a young Ron Artest III was handed a pair of sneakers worn by the one and only Kobe Bryant.

“I just never had the passion to play,” the newest member of the KW Titans told CityNews 570 on Sunday.

“My freshman year in high school, I tried out for the team and made it, and never went back to play. My dad found out I didn't play, because I lived in Indiana, so the next year, he flew me to LA and said 'you don't have a choice, you have to play.'”

“From there on, (that passion) just started to grow. I love it now.”

His dad is of course the 18-year NBA veteran who once shared the same name, before he changed it to Metta World Peace and then Metta Sandiford-Artest.

The name recognition alone garnered Artest III a lot of attention over the years.

Looking like his dad's twin? It was something to get used to.

“It was kind of hard walking around, actually getting mistaken for him,” Artest III said. “He doesn't age backwards, we're not the same person.”

“It was just a lot of questions daily, but I got used to it, I know how to handle it now so no pressure anymore.”

He certainly doesn't seem like he feels the pressure. Much of the conversation with Artest III felt very light and fun as the 22-year-old reminisced about the past.

Even talking about what kind of player he is.

The older Artest made a career with his defensive acumen, winning NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2004, named to multiple NBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams in the mid-to-late 2000s, and reached the pinnacle of the sport, helping the Los Angeles Lakers win an NBA Championship in 2010.

“I think I'm better than (my dad) offensively, I'll say that,” Artest III said with a smile. “I do play with a high motor, and I still ask him daily for tips.”

“If I could be as good as him on defense, I'd love to be.”

If anything, Artest sure got to work on his fade aways as a kid, thanks to some inspiration from one of his dad's former teammates in Los Angeles.

He didn't have much in terms of a Kobe Bryant story — “Kobe's someone you don't really see. He's the first one there, last one to leave. If you see him, that's good luck,” Artest III said of Bryant, the older Artest's teammate from 2009 to 2013, and then again for Kobe's final season in 2015-16 — but the one story he did tell may have been the start of something.

“The one time I seen him and talked to him a little bit, was after a game,” Artest III said of Bryant. “He was walking to the locker room and said three words to me, so I thought that was a long convo to me.”

“He walked in the locker room, and the security guard brings me some shoes that he just played in. It was a big game.”

“Normally, someone would frame them, keep them. I put them on the next day and tore them up. They have some mileage to them.”

“I don't even know where they are now, but it made me want to play in them, like the Like Mike movie and you want to be like (Michael) Jordan, I was like 'I want to be like Kobe.'”

“Hot shot. Fade aways. I never wanted to play either, so I'd just go to the court and shoot fade aways. That was it, nothing else.”

Now that he is on the basketball train, like many, there have been ups and downs. For Artest III, it's been a road filled with surgeries and address changes along the way.

He played for the Division 1 school Cal State Northridge from 2018-2021, but his last couple years weren't fun.

Artest III had to get shoulder surgery and was out of action for five months. He followed that up by rolling his ankle a couple weeks into his return, had ankle surgery that put him out another nine months.

“After I got cleared, two days later, I went to try out for a G League team and I was completely out of shape so I didn't make it,” Artest III continued.

“A couple weeks later, they called me and I started playing on the team. I was lucky enough to get on the team, considering how out of shape I was.”

Things, however, didn't work out at the G League level for him.

First, Artest III signed with Miami's affiliate in Sioux Falls in late October, and was waived 10 days later.

Then he signed in Delaware (Philadelphia's G League affiliate) on January 9, but was waived on January 31.

Last week, the KW Titans came a calling, but even that wasn't just a simple transaction.

Artest III got the call to come to Canada, but didn't have a passport.

“I had to drive the next morning at 5 a.m. to get a passport in San Diego, stayed there all day, took the flight,” he recalled. “(It was) a three-hour flight, five-hour layover, two-hour flight, get off the plane and play.”

He made his debut last Wednesday in a 111-93 loss in London.

Artest III finished with no points, a rebound and an assist in six minutes on the floor.

“First game was very tough, thought I was getting sent home after,” he said with a laugh.

He followed it up with no points, a rebound and four personal fouls in four minutes in his home debut, a 100-93 Titans loss to Sudbury Friday.

But on Sunday, he started to put things together, recording 10 points and seven rebounds in KW's 98-82 win over Kokomo.

“The second game, I knew the plays but still wasn't comfortable,” Artest III said. “(Sunday), I felt more comfortable. I feel as time goes on, I'm going to keep getting better.”

It's been a slow progression over the last week, getting used to the style of play the National Basketball League of Canada presents.

Titans coach Neal Foreman said that's normal, especially considering what little time Artest III has gotten to practice with his new teammates, already a quarter of the way into the season.

“Now, it's just a matter of plugging him in, letting him use his athleticism, his skill and just get a feel for it and how the game is played in our league, and where he can fit perfectly,” Foreman said.

From what he's seen so far, safe to say Foreman is a fan.

“Demeanour, character, I think he's got the tools to be successful, not just with us, just in life,” he said. “Just a really great gentleman.”

“He's his own man, and it's great. Hopefully, he has a chance to develop and get a feel for us, and (establish) his own legacy.”

“The journey's cool,” Artest III added. “I like where I'm at right now, and from here, I want to go to the NBA next year.”

“I'm just going to shoot for it.”