Malice, Palace, Some Thoughts on Ron Artest's Maybe genius

Last night I about passed right out when I realized The Malice at the Palace took place 20 years ago. It turns out that Ron Artest got suspended for a month, which reminds me of brilliant 'ol me pointing this out back in 2007: 

Most people remember Artest’s fight at the Palace in 2004 –NBA player jumps into stands to fight, the world’s over we should all kill ourselves. Okay. But what got lost in that shuffle and what continues to both amaze me and crack me up is that earlier in the season, Artest had walked into his team’s offices and asked for a month off to promote a cd he had made for some girl group friends of his. The gumption and stupidity to walk in and ask for such a thing – Ron, my cap will always be doffed. Never forget, people!

I've never noticed anybody else bringing this up, which is no surprise since the Universe is usually limping along about 23 decades behind me, but I guess my question is did Artest brilliantly set up the fight so he’d get suspended for a month after all? What DID Artest do during that month; did he *just so happen* to (checks notes) promote a cd he had made for some girl group friends of his? 🤔🤷‍♂️