Artest’s agent says controversial star doesn’t want trade, after all

INDIANAPOLIS – Ron Artest doesn’t want to be traded by the Indiana Pacers after all, his agent said.

Artest said last weekend that his past in Indiana haunts him, and he is interested in being traded to the New York Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers.

But Mark Stevens, Artest’s agent, told the Associated Press on Saturday that Artest holds out hope he can remain with the Pacers.

“At this moment, we’re not going to put the buggy before the horse,” Stevens said. “We’re waiting to hear from (Pacers president) Donnie Walsh, the gentleman and scholar that he is, and hope this can be resolved to where there won’t have to be a trade.”

Teammate Stephen Jackson said Artest called him Friday night, and he hopes his teammate will return.

“He wants to play basketball, that’s all he wants to do,” Jackson said. Artest triggered a brawl with Detroit Pistons fans in November 2004 and was suspended for 73 games and the playoffs. Walsh said the latest incident was “the last straw of a lot of issues.”

Jackson also was suspended for the brawl.

“I almost lost my job for him last year, so that’s my friend,” Jackson said. “So I respect his decision, whatever he feels, he feels.”

Stevens said Walsh told him he is prepared to make Artest inactive with pay for the rest of the season if he can’t find a suitable trade.