Intensity, some athletes have it, and others lack it. With intensity an athlete brings a soaring level of concentration and passion to the playing field that can sometimes give them the edge they need to compete while putting fear in the eyes of the opponent. Allen Iverson has intensity. Pedro Martinez has it. Ray Allen used to have it, but has lost it.

Ron Artest defiantly has intensity. The 6-foot-7 former St. John’s star oozes intensity with every movement he makes on the court. You ever look at the eyes of this guy? It’s too bad this guy isn’t a closer, because he’s got enough of a stare to make Barry Bonds back off the plate.

But over the past few weeks Artest has shown a lot more than just his stare. After the Pacers 96-98 loss to the Knicks in early January, Artest stormed off the court, threw a television monitor to the ground, approached a cameraman, yanked the $100,000 piece of equipment away from him and spiked it like a football.

Last week, in the Pacers come-from-behind win against Miami, Artest instigated two separate shouting matches with Miami Heat coach Pat Riley and waved a naughty finger at the crowd. During their second altercation, Riley shoved Artest, and in the post-game press conference the “slick-haired one” was bewildered with the fire that Artest plays with.

These two incidences, along with several technical and flagrant fouls, have many people questioning the mind of an extremely talented NBA player. Artest is having the best season of his young career, averaging 15.8 points per game, along with 5.5 rebounds and 2.24 steals. He is considered by many one of the single-best defenders in the league, holding down the opposition’s best scorers on a consistent basis.

With that kind of output, it’s no wonder Artest’s coaches and teammates are quick to defend his heated antics. Artest’s two biggest defenders, Reggie Miller and Isiah Thomas, are pretty familiar with the type of behavior their young protégé is showing.

It is Reggie Miller whose skinny frame disguises the loudmouth who loves to talk trash. It is Reggie Miller who rubs Spike Lee’s face in the mud after every clutch jumper the savvy veteran has ever drained against his team’s greatest rival.

And it was Isiah Thomas, the leader of the “Bad Boy” Pistons team of the late 1980s, who played with the cutthroat mindset along side premiere thugs Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn and Dennis Rodman. Thomas in everyway embodied the “Bad Boy” court image; all the while displaying his glowing smile off the court.

That’s why I fear for Artest. I fear that Thomas is molding him in his image. Don’t get me wrong, Thomas was a great player. He’s a hall of famer, and one of the best point guards ever to play the game. But he burned a lot of bridges in his playing days, preventing him from being considered one of the better teammates in basketball history, despite his talent and the numbers he produced.

In Michael Jordan’s rookie season of 1985, the future six-time champ was elected to the NBA’s All-Star team. Four-year veteran Thomas refused to pass the ball to Jordan in a display of jealousy. Thomas’ selfish act would later prevent him for making the 1991 “Dream Team,” as Jordan petitioned for the last guard spot to go to Clyde Drexler.

Furthermore, no one will forget the trade Thomas secretly forced, moving disgruntled teammate Adrian Dantley to the purgatory of the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Isiah’s high-school friend Mark Aguirre. After the move, Dantley came to Thomas before a game between Dallas and Detroit telling his former teammate, “I will never forgive you for what you’ve done to me.”

Though Artest may never hold the star power that Thomas had, Zeke’s influence on the impressionable youngster can only be a detriment to Artest’s ascension to NBA stardom. He’s creating too many enemies this early in his career, and we may have only started to see the damage he is capable of.

There have always been athletes who played with great intensity and mean streaks, but Artest needs to leave it all on the court and make his statements with his play. He’s got too much talent to just become another one of Isiah’s lackeys.