Artest won't confirm, deny if he's talked about retiring

Sacramento Kings forward Ron Artest told multiple teammates this week that he wants to retire at season's end to spend more time with his family, according to club sources.

After news of Artest's retirement musings spread, Kings forward Corliss Williamson confirmed to The Sacramento Bee that Artest sent text messages to several teammates about retiring when this season is over. The possibility of the eight-year veteran walking away from the Kings after the season to focus on family life was also raised over the weekend at hiphopgame.com, where Artest has been posting journal entries this season.

Few league observers believed him then and similar skepticism -- inside and outside the Kings' organization -- is bound to greet his latest sentiments, even though Artest clearly has much to consider off the floor.

The Bee also reported that Artest met with Kings president Geoff Petrie after the game to discuss the retirement talk.

"He's under a lot of scrutiny and at a point, really, in his own career where he needs to be a better keeper of his own soul in some ways," Petrie told the newspaper. "We'll assess in the context of the whole season where we go [with Artest from here]. But again, it's sort of Ron being Ron."

....Artest was widely hailed as a savior in Sacramento last season after the Kings acquired him from the Pacers in a late January trade for Peja Stojakovic. The Kings were 17-24 when they made the trade and wound up rallying into the postseason, extending San Antonio to six games in the first round and stretching their run under co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof to eight straight seasons in the playoffs....

"If I think I want to retire, it doesn't make me crazy," Artest said at the time. "What's so crazy about being home with your family? I don't see anything so crazy about that. If people think that's crazy, maybe they don't know what it's like to be with their family. Family is more important than money."

...But then he added: "I really -- before I retire -- I want to win a championship. I want to reach at least one of the things Michael Jordan reached."....