So Ron Artest wants to come to New York? Let’s roll out the red carpet for the former Red Storm who:

– Destroyed a television camera at Madison Square Garden in 2003.

– Openly disrespected coach Pat Riley during a game with the Miami Heat.

– Asked for a month off after overworking himself promoting a third-rate R&B record on his vanity label.

– Climbed into the stands in Auburn Hills, slugging a fan and touching off a riot that permanently shamed the sport of basketball.

Know how we treat no-gooders like you in New York, Ron-Ron? We show them the door. Let me tell you: Knick, Net, Jet or Met, there’s no room for hooligans in the Big Apple. You’d think Ron Artest would know that by now. You’d think he’d know better.

Yet the deranged mind of a wayward thug sees only what it wants to see. And as far as Artest is concerned, there are only delusional dollar signs beaming out from the Garden. There’s only a hero’s welcome awaiting this Tru Warier.

Let me tell you something about warriors in this town, Ron-Ron. When there’s a real war going on – a war to defend our freedoms against rogue states, a war against terrorism, a war that started when two planes hit the Twin Towers just blocks away from the Knicks’ home court – we don’t take kindly to wanton thuggery masquerading as heroism. If WFAN’s Mike Francesa put on a frilly skirt, he wouldn’t be a Ford model any more than Ron Artest would become a role model by shaving a logo into the back of his head.

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Second quarter of the Knicks/Hawks game on MSG: not only does an ugly Modell’s ad cover up the bottom half of the screen, blocking the audience’s view of the pitched battle being fought for once between me-first point guards Stephon Marbury and Josh Smith (won by ballhog Jamal Crawford, of all people, on a nifty layup), but analysts Walt “Acrimonia” Frazier and Mike Breen don’t even acknowledge it. All the while, they’re talking about Artest.

Perimeter passing, interior defense, backdoor cuts, bounce passes, free-throw shooting, the game-within-a-game of clock management and possession time: these are what basketball fans what to see. Razzle-dazzle and swish are fine if you’re cutting a highlight reel, but fundamentals are going to put fans in the seats. But don’t tell that to the Knicks and MSG. Their philosophy seems to be the basketball equivalent of “if it bleeds, it leads.”

So Isiah Thomas better think twice before he turns the home of the Westminster Dog Show into the dog and pony show. Just when the Knicks have a nucleus to build on for the future, the last thing they need is an atom bomb like Ron Artest.

Phil Mushnick is a columnist for the New York Post.