New year, new shoes for Ron Artest. He’s still reppin’ Peak- the Chinese company that Phil Jackson blamed for Ron-Ron’s plantar fasciitis last year- and he has a new commercial to promote the kicks. What I garnered from the commercial is that Ron vs. Ron with Ron doing the voiceover is entertaining but in no way does it make me want to buy shoes that P-Jax referred to as “concrete boots.”

Bonus Video: Sacramento Kings fan steals Kobe Bryant’s shoulder towel after the game-

Ron Artest is many things; NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers and a former Defensive Player of the Year are just a few that come to mind. So do words like eccentric and unique, which leads to another one of the things he’s known as – a rapper. The Queensbridge, New York native has dabbled in rap for much of his career, but it never quite reached true star status until the release of his “Champions” song after the Lakers won the 2010 NBA title.

He plugged it during the live postgame interview after game seven and it became an instant viral hit. Before long it was spreading past the Interwebs and it’s now even featured on the extremely popular NBA2K11 video game. He wasn’t the first athlete to rap and he’s making it clear he won’t stop either with the release of a new song.

The new song is going to be featured on an upcoming mixtape of his, according to a message released via his Twitter page. We have it available for stream below or you can click here to download the song. As you probably expected, it will have some Artest quotables.

Ron Artest – “Gucci Time” Freestyle featuring Sheff La (Stream)

-Will.

Will R. is a journalist/writer who covers sports, news and music for several websites. His music work can be found on www.WestCoastRydaz.com

TMZ Sports reports authorities in Los Angeles ticketed Ron Artest yesterday for expired tags on his street legal Indycar. Artest has been driving the red Eagle Roadster all over LA although there’s no word on how long the registration has been expired. While most people hate being pulled over Artest looked like he enjoyed himself.

I’m glad Ron was stopped for something simple like some expired tags and not for drinking and driving.

Ron Artest — What’s Wrong with this Picture?! [TMZ]

The Ron Artest championship summer celebration continues with Ron-Ron hitting the beach with some fans for a game of touch-football. Last year Artest threw a season kick-off bbq at the beach and tossed around the pigskin for fun. This year he’s throwing out the challenge to “bring your best squad” to an unknown beach in the LA area. Why there? Because according to Ron that’s the only place they play “sandball.”

Another angle of Ron Artest playing football at the beach:

SUMMER SANDBALL 2010 with RON ARTEST [Dantekid3-Youtube]

Football with Ron Artest at the Beach [SerbianPrincess-Youtube]

Controversy has never been something that Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest runs from, even with his new-found world champion status. He led chants of “Boston Sucks” during the Lakers victory parade and was falsely accused of being a part of a “Fcuk LeBron” party in New York.

He performed over the weekend at the Crazy Horse in West Covina, including his fan-favorite “Champions” song. Given the location, he was obviously in front of a friendly crowd. Well, friendly to everyone but the new-look Miami Heat. For the final minute or so of his set, the crowd started a “F*ck The Heat!” chant, which Ron appeared to thoroughly enjoy.

Lakers fans have always felt threatened by disliked LeBron because of his MVP awards and all the Kobe vs. LeBron talks, so it’s not much of a surprise that they’ll hate the Heat, especially if Miami ends up being a major contender or possibly eliminating Los Angeles. It will definitely make for an interesting rivalry, especially with stuff like this video.

- Will.

Will R. is a journalist/writer who covers sports, news and music for several websites. His music work can be found on www.WestCoastRydaz.com

Ron Artest is a man of the people, the rare athlete that enjoys hanging out with his fans. He throws BBQs for his Twitter followers and buys courtside seats for random fans. He’d be famous for mostly the right reasons if not for that little running into the stands and beating up the wrong guy thing.

Ron-Ron took some time out of his busy club performance schedule to suit up for Team Zankou Chicken of the Melrose “A” Mazing League. What I picked up from watching the videos is that basketball skills don’t necessarily translate to the dodgeball court.

Ron Artest makes appearance at dodgeball game:

Ron Artest playing dodgeball:

Get your Football Picks for the 2010 season.

Ron Artest knocked out of the dodgeball game:

Bonus Ron Artest in the club “Superman that hoe” video:

Los Angeles Lakers champion and QB rep Ron Artest, who will apparently be bringing his performing skills to the Crazy Horse in West Covina today, recently linked up with 50 Cent‘s ThisIs50.com for an exclusive interview. Artest has always been known for his candor and his crazy unique answers and in this new interview he discusses growing up in Queensbridge, his relationship with Kobe Bryant and much more.

Take advantage of the Bodog bonus code for all of your gaming needs this season.

Props to Eskay at NahRight for the link.

- Will.

Will R. is a journalist/writer who covers sports, news and music for several websites. His music work can be found on www.WestCoastRydaz.com

When somebody says Ron Artest the first two things that come to mind are the brawl at the palace and nutty behavior. Ron has shown remorse for his role in the fight but seems to embrace the crazy basketball player persona. He helped build on the image by thanking his psychiatrist immediately after winning the championship and also showed that there’s a little fox mixed in with his crazy.

So what does Ron do now that he’s won his first ring and has nothing but free time on his hands? Party. He already held the annual “Ron Artest BBQ” and next up is a rap performance at the appropriately titled Crazy Horse in West Covina, Ca.

Artest performed at Crazy Horse in March so this is nothing new for him. I don’t know if he’ll be shouting Fcuk LeBron but there’s no doubt he’ll start a “Boston Sucks” chant.

Ron Artest-Crazy Horse via @BADDESTnLA

Ron Artset of LA Lakers & Friends Performing LIVE! [Crazy Horse]

NBA Champion and all around fun guy Ron Artest held his annual “Ron Artest BBQ” in his old Queensbridge stomping grounds yesterday (July 15) and it featured some major names. New York’s FunkMaster Flex and the legendary EPMD took care of the stage and music, while Ron walked among the crowd showing love to his fans. Check the video footage below, but keep your speakers low.

The only thing missing was Jeff Van Gundy repping QB again. Say Queensbridge! Word to Craig Sager.

Shouts to Eskay and NahRight for the heads up.

- Will.

Will R. is a journalist/writer who covers sports, news and music for several websites. His music work can be found on www.WestCoastRydaz.com

One of the many things I’ve learned watching sports over the years is that some star athletes just can’t get enough of the spotlight, leading to all kinds of branching out. Some choose to form management companies or clothing lines. That’s cool and all but it’s usually not that interesting.

The real fun starts when these talented sports figures try their luck at music. Based on what we’ve seen and heard through the years, there’s a reason why they have their day jobs. The latest guy to make headlines for his music is Los Angeles Lakers starter and NBA Champion Ron Artest. Ron-Ron is no newcomer to rapping and his hometown of Queensbridge, New York has been the birthplace of many rap superstars (Nas, Mobb Deep, ).

His latest song has been his most famous though, especially since he plugged it during the live postgame speech after game 7 of the NBA Finals. It immediately became a hop topic online and by the next day he released the song – appropriately called “Champions” – and it was a viral hit. Trey Kerby over at Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie called it the “best athlete rap song of all-time in the non-unintentional comedy division.”

After more than a few listens it’s hard to say it isn’t a good song. Artest covers all bases, using several examples of sports superiority throughout the lyrics and it’s actually missing most of the antics that earned him the nickname “Crazy Pills” among fans. It’s certainly better than his puzzling tribute to the late Michael Jackson.

Since it’s brought up the topic of rapper/athletes again, we thought we’d line up a few of the most well-known examples and let you decide. If you want to know what some of the NBA guys think, you can catch Artest’s list here or watch Amare Stoudemire and Brandon Roy break down their picks. Whether you think they are good, unintentionally funny, campy cult classics or just plain awful, enjoy.

The Good/Decent:

The Bad (yet still memorable):

The Ugly:

It seems like a recipe for some success on the mic involves the right mix of charisma (Shaq), originality (Da Bears), and a bit of craziness (Artest). It’s a delicate balance though, as we can see with overdoing the cheesiness (Deion, the Dolphins and Eagles) or just lacking any flow (Barkley was turrible). If the rumors about Delonte West and LeBron’s mom are true, I doubt he won her over with his rap lyrics. Iverson went a bit too overboard with the homophobia (safe to say John Amaechi wasn’t waiting in line to buy his CD) and Kobe just S.U.C.K.E.D.

Whether they end up being ridiculed or accepted for trying to cross over, it’s unlikely we’ll see a decrease in rapping athletes anytime soon, especially when looking at the long list of those who hit the booth.

- Will.

Will R. is a journalist/writer who covers sports, news and music for several websites. His music work can be found on www.WestCoastRydaz.com