LOS ANGELES, 21 April 2004 — Ron Artest had a coming-out party Monday after the Indiana Pacers’ fiery forward was named the runaway NBA defensive player of the year. Artest averaged a career-best 18.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists a game this season. But the first-time All-Star led an aggressive defense that held opponents to 85.6 points per game, third best in the league.

“I’ve been doing it behind the scenes since I was a rookie in Chicago,” said Artest, last year’s runner-up to Detroit’s Ben Wallace. “It’s just been behind the scenes. People know I’m coming out to stop them, and it hasn’t changed since.”

Artest received 476 points out of a possible 605, including 80 of the 121 first-place ballots from sports writers and broadcasters. Two-time defensive-player-of-the-year winner Wallace finished second, Portland’s Theo Ratliff was third and San Antonio’s Bruce Bowen came in fourth.

It was a bittersweet celebration for Artest, who was suspended for Tuesday’s Game 2 of the Pacers-Boston Celtics’ opening-round Eastern Conference playoff series.

Although Artest scored 24 points and shut down Celtics’ leading scorer Paul Pierce in the final three quarters of the Pacers’ 104-88 playoff win Saturday, he left the bench during a confrontation.

“It’s a rule. The NBA has rules you have to abide by,” Artest said. “It’s a learning experience, and I’ll just have to get back at it in Game 3 on Friday.”

With four minutes gone in the second quarter, Artest briefly left the bench, when he saw teammate Jermaine O’Neal thrown to the floor by Boston’s Brandon Hunter.

Artest took about four steps onto the court when he saw O’Neal lose his cool but returned to the bench.