Ron Artest Signs With Lakers [Full Interview] 2009

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Kobe Bryant teams up with his rival competitor. Good or Bad?


In a free-agent swap of forwards, the Lakers reached an agreement with Houston Rockets forward Ron Artest and the Rockets have reached agreement with Trevor Ariza, The Times has learned.

Artest met with Lakers executives throughout the day and agreed to terms of about $18 million over three years.

Ariza agreed to a five-year deal with the Rockets for about $33 million, roughly the same that the Lakers had offered in their effort to retain him.

"I had to do what was best for me and family," Ariza said. "I am happy with my decision. I'm glad this all worked out. The Rockets are going to give me a chance to improve my game and that's all you can ask for."

Ariza's agent, David Lee, said the 24-year-old forward passed up a more lucrative contract offer from another team with salary-cap space. "We decided to go with Houston anyway," Lee said. "It was never about the money. It was about going someplace where you felt appreciated."


Artest, who will be 30 in November, enjoys the Los Angeles lifestyle and was a presence in the courtside seats for some of the Lakers' games in the NBA Finals.

He is still a formidable defender and averaged 17.1 points last season, though he will take a pay cut from the $7.4 million he made last season because the Lakers don't have as much money at their disposal when it comes to other teams' free agents.

"I am very excited to finally be going to L.A.," Artest said in a statement. "For years now, the Lakers have expressed interest in having me play for them, but we could never get the stars to align.I'm finally a Laker and I can't wait to get on the court with Kobe, Pau [Gasol] and the rest of the team, and play for Phil [Jackson].

"The Lakers really made me feel wanted. . . . I look forward to helping the Lakers defend their championship, and it will be great to finally not get booed in the Staples Center.

"I had a great talk today with Phil. I'm a huge fan of his and I can't wait to show him what I can do. I also spoke with Magic Johnson last night. In addition, my agent has been in constant contact with Mitch Kupchak. I made my decision after I had lunch today with Dr. Buss and I realized what a great organization I'm joining."

The addition of Artest basically ended the Lakers' pursuit of Ariza, who met today with the Rockets.

"I understand that they did sign Ron Artest," Ariza said. "They did what they had to do. I understand it's a business."

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[leebo508]

This guy can straight up play D. Now with Kobe and the two 7 footers in the paint. Teams won't be able to score over 70 points on the Lakers now.

[TelephoneScatologica]

Kobe&Artest=Jordan&Pippen

[PurpleNdSilver]

Now it's time to trade him back for Ariza. He was good in the 2010 season but now is complete trash.

[LKdot007]

@leebo508 do you feel just a little stupid now?

[MrDiscostu32]

2 bad he is trash now

[SnowMaN2612]

"we can definetly win a championship, we gotta put that work in" and you did ron ! lakers 2010-2011 champs

[elbeto805]

@ibzan24 the rockets gave ariza alot of money so he didnt care

[neoimean7]

@leebo508 YOU WERE RIGHT

[neoimean7]

WHY DIDNT RON RON GET A TWO HOUR SPECIAL ON COMEDY CENTRAL

[rdotpatterson]

where can i get that hat

[ibzan24]

see wat happens when u let money and agents speak for u. sorry ariza u could've had 2 rings. if i were him, i'd fire his agent

[gnot30]

@stikOplus63 sayang mekarepeat la deng lakers