RonArtest

Ron Artest: Hey Amy, How you doin’?

Amy Hood: Good, good… Congratulations on being a Laker now! How does it feel?

RA: It feels good to be a Laker, you know. I’ve been trying to find a way to be a Laker for quite some time. It finally happened for me. Once I had the chance to get that jersey on and have that press conference and everything it all sunk in and I realized how blessed I was.

AH: We’re all really excited to have you! So straight to the serious stuff: now that you’re a Laker, are you going to bring us home another Larry O’Brien trophy for the china cabinet? We’re still two behind Boston.

RA: Yes. We’re going to bring it home again and again. We have to bring it home.

AH: So, Kobe is The Black Mamba, Pau is The Spaniard, Odom is The Candy Man… what should we call you?

RA: [laughs] I think I’m gonna stick with Tru Warrior. You can call me Tru Warrior or Mr. New York. Actually - Mr. New York.

AH: Are you excited about possibly playing with Lamar again?

RA: Yeah. I love Lamar. He’s like a brother. I’m fascinated with his career. I’m inspired by the things that he has done. I’ve seen him grow up. He’s one of the greatest players to ever play the game. I’m just so happy for him.

AH: Anything you can say to persuade him to come back next season?

RA: Anything Lamar does I support. I’m happy for him.

AH: After The Rockets got knocked out of the Championship running this year in the Conference Semi-Finals you stuck around instead of heading back home. Are you going to miss Houston or are you ready for the Southern California lifestyle?

RA: This is my 5th city in the NBA, so I’m pretty good at moving on. I’m pretty good at enjoying what I had and being grateful for what I have. I love the NBA. It’s great getting to play on different teams and I just feel really lucky.

AH: Do you have any favorite LA spots?

RA: The SLS Hotel is a great place to hit up. They’ve got five star restaurants; it’s a five star hotel with a five star bar. You don’t even have to go anywhere. You can just stay there all day. The Geisha House is another one of my favorite restaurants. The Newsroom Café is the best place for breakfast. Toast is a great place to eat at. And I love the UCLA campus. They have a great workout facility – and a great team.

AH: Has Kobe invited you down to his house in Orange County yet?

RA: Yeah he’s been inviting me. Last fall he invited me to his house. I’ll wait till my kids get here and then I’ll probably give him a call and tell him we’re about ready to take that invitation. Right now my kids aren’t with me, so I can wait.

AH: Have you ever been to Orange County?

RA: I’ve been there once. I know it’s a really nice place. I was in a hotel out there that overlooked the ocean and everything and it was a beautiful area. It was a part of California I had never seen before. California is so versatile. You’ve got Sacramento and LA and then the Bay Area. It’s such a versatile place to live in.

AH: Have any of your teammates gotten you any housewarming presents yet?

RA: No. I’m a hotel person. So I think I might just live in the hotel. I’m not sure.

AH: Is being the new player on the team kind of like the first day of school all over again?

RA: Not anymore. Not when you’re a veteran, you know. I think I’ll be one of the older guys on the team. When you’re a veteran you want to come in there and actually help the young fellas. You always want to help the young guys.

AH: Kobe Bryant has said of you “We’re friends. I like him a lot – like his game – always have…He competes…every night, every play…He wants to win as much as I do.” Are you excited that you and Kobe are going to be teammates instead of opponents now?

RA: Yeah, I think it’s so cool – it’s a storybook ending. I think it was meant to be. He gives me motivation to become the best defensive player like I used to be. He’s a great defender. I’ve been working on my offensive game so my offense is catching up to my defense, and his defense is catching up to his offense. I want to become the greatest in the NBA like I was in the past in my career.

AH: If you weren’t in the NBA what would your life look like now?

RA: I think I would be a math teacher. I think that would be a thrill. It’d be like a roller coaster ride. Just the whole subject and helping kids- especially the junior high school age. It would be a thrill to me. I’d be the first math teacher that’s a rapper.

AH: What is your life motto?

RA: Put God first. Put God first. I was taught that by a man named Hank Carter. Every time I do that I never fail. Never.

AH: I know you are a fan of the oldies, so if you could only listen to three CDs for the rest of your life, what would they be?

RA: If I could only listen to three CDs for the rest of my life it would be…uhh…oh that’s interesting...Ok…it would have to be The O’Jays; The album that Ron Stand produced. That’s one album. The second one would be a lady named Michelle Hunter, she has great songs. She’s from North Carolina and she’s an unknown artist. People should Google and Myspace her and find her music. And then…the last album? Uh oh…Uh oh…what do we do? [laughs] It would probably have to be Dido.

AH: Dido?

RA: Yeah, Dido. Her first album, No Angel.

AH: Why that album?

RA: I don’t know – I like all types of music but I mean, if I had to listen to one album – that’s hard, but I would listen to Dido. For some reason a lot of people have never heard of that album. In my culture a lot of people have never heard that album, but it’s a great album. Especially for women. I can really listen to it because it seems like when she wrote the album she had a lot of pain inside and put that in the music. It was a really heartfelt album, and it’s one of my favorites.

AH: If you could be anyone who would you be?

RA: If I could be anyone who would I be? WOW. Anyone? Oh, I know, I’d be Larry Jones [author’s note: Larry Jones is the founder of Feed The Children]. Because he helps millions and millions of people and feeds millions and millions of people around the world. Actually, it might be billions. He feeds the people and he loves people. So I would be him.

AH: If they were to do a movie of your life, what actor do you think should play you?

RA: I gotta say Will Smith, because he can do anything. And he’s tall and he can play ball.

AH: Speaking of movies, what’s your favorite?

RA: Titanic used to be my favorite movie and still is one of my favorites. I like Men in Black. I like Bad Boys. But I gotta say Transformers. Michael Bay is the best film director ever.

AH: Speaking of Bad Boys, what’s it like being the NBA’s unofficial bad boy?

RA: I think there’s a lot more bad boys in the NBA, but they look at me as the main guy and everybody loves that, so I think it’s cool.

AH: Yeah, everybody loves a bad boy.

RA: Yeah they should have me play in Bad Boys III. I’d be the Super Villain.

AH: One word that describes you best?

RA: One word that describes me? Tall. I don’t know [laughs]. [Ron’s publicist Heidi chimes in: “Comedian”] Yeah. Comedian. [laughs]

AH: Can you tell us one thing you’ve never told anyone else?

RA: Let’s think… I like to pose in the mirror a lot when I’m alone.

But if James Dean, Martin Lawrence and Will Smith have taught us anything, everybody loves a bad boy. Artest grew up playing ball in a rough neighborhood in Queens, NY where he actually witnessed someone being killed on the court over a game. “It was so competitive, they broke a leg from a table and threw it, it went right through his heart and he died right on the court. So I’m accustomed to playing basketball really rough.” So for you remnant of Lakers’ naysayers who still contend that the Lakers aren’t tough enough, I think we can finally put that qualm to bed.

Ron Artest is an amalgam. During his run with the Bulls he was the guy Michael Jordan called his “favorite Bull”. In 2004 he was named Defensive Player of the Year. The next season he was involved in one of the most infamous fights in NBA history. He’s the guy who in 2006 offered to donate his whole salary not once but TWICE to keep teammate Bonzi Wells and coach Rick Adelman with the Kings. He’s the guy who will take a paycut if it means winning a ring. He’s the guy you want on your side if you ever get into a bar fight - and now he’s the newest member of the Lakers.

The reason we love a bad boy is because under that brooding exterior is a soft gooey center. So following is my interview with Ron on everything from Titanic, to his tentative roll in Bad Boys III. INTERVIEW BY AMY HOOD