Is another incident involving a pro athlete and gun violence sank in recently, it’s easy to forget that not every young, rich and famous sports figure puts himself at risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That’s why perspective is key. There should never be a rush to use the coating of one unfortunate incident to paint athletes with broad strokes. For every one knucklehead, there are five, 10 or 50 NBA players who conduct themselves with class.

For every five or 10 who head straight from the postgame locker room to the strip club after-party and sometimes find trouble, there are dozens who exit the arena and go home to their wives and children.

And for every story that seems to get relentless news coverage because of its volatile mix of athletes, wee hours, nightclubs, luxury cars, women, bling and haters, there are three that are well underplayed or go without coverage at all when the right choices apparently are made.

While most were caught up following details of the late-night shooting incident involving Indiana Pacers guard Jamaal Tinsley, one of his former teammates also was in the midst of late-night exploits in Indy.

The only difference was Kings forward Ron Artest was flying across the country to be by his 4-year-old daughter’s side for treatment at the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital for a cancerous kidney tumor. He has made at least two trips to Indy since Nov. 21 to be with his daughter, Diamond, diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer that affects one in about 10,000 children.

These stories are also becoming too routine. But they show another side of the lives these remarkable athletes live. In just the past eight months, we’ve learned of guard Derek Fisher’s plight with his daughter, Tatum. He flew across the country during the playoffs to be with Tatum during her treatment in New York for a rare form of eye cancer, and then made it back to Utah for a critical game against the Warriors.

Jazz forward Carlos Boozer, who maintains an offseason home in Miami, missed a chunk of training camp this season to be here with his son, who was recovering from a bone marrow transplant.

Artest has already missed one game this season, and it’s likely he’s been emotionally distracted during at least a few more. And his free moments have been spent surfing websites to study information on Wilms’ tumors, chemotherapy treatments and survival rates.

“It’s a curable cancer, so that’s something to look forward to,” Artest said recently about Diamond, one of his four children. “She’s a tough girl. She’s not really complaining too much. My baby’s precious. It’s in God’s hands.”

Sure, Artest has had a stay or three in the knucklehead asylum during his occasionally problematic but overall productive career. But he’s human. And there are times when humans are forced to get priorities in order.

Kings coach Reggie Theus could use Artest on the court for every second the team can get out of him to keep an already turbulent season from spiraling directly into the lottery. Yet, he has allowed Artest to dictate his own schedule at a difficult time.

“I think he’s got his priorities in line,” Theus said.

“It’s a tough job, because he knows he’s got to be there Indianapolis, and yet he’s coming back and forth.”

For every story that involves athletes finding themselves in life-and-death situations, it’s good to see a few that feature them doing all they can to actually help save lives instead of foolishly risking their own.