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Author's note: In early 2003, ESPN the Magazine ran a cover story on Ron Artest, calling him "The Scariest Man in Basketball." Not much has changed, even though everything has changed. Funny thing, though: everyone who meets Artest likes him. A lot. He comes across as kind and well-meaning and even endearing. So how to explain the horrible outbursts? Keep in mind that Artest grew up in chaos. Every day of his childhood brought the fear of violence and poverty and disorder. He saw his father hit his mother. He saw them get divorced. He saw his baby sister buried after she died of SIDS. Chaos is Ron Artest's phobia. Lack of control of his surroundings brings him back to a time in his life when the next moment could bring something terrifying. Basketball was and still is his antidote, his crutch. Ron Artest plays as if his life depends on it, because somewhere in the back of his mind he might believe it does. So it's possible that when that cup hit him last Friday, he became the little boy none of us can see in this big, brawny man. The Scariest Man in Basketball could also be the most scared.

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