10 Things You Have To Do In Bed

Last week, John “Mind Of Man” DeVore warned us not to compliment a man when his is naked. Noted, buddy. But I have to say, as a woman, and a whole lot of one at that, even though you’ve already taken me home and gotten me naked, I still need to hear that you are ready for this jelly. Say something nice. Otherwise, I’ll think you’re not telling me how nice my booty is because you don’t like what you see. I swear, I’m not normally so insecure, but when I drop my dress, you need to start the sweet talkin’. Even if it’s a lie and you’re glad I turned the lights off, just tell me I’m pretty. You gotta do that, gentleman, and eight more things during sex besides get off ...

Take Some Initiative: Don’t just do what you know is going to get me off. Have fun, show me what you like to do to me. Don’t simply go through the motions.

Kiss Something Besides My Mouth: My lips are like one percent of me; your kiss feels good on the other 99 percent.

Take All Your Clothes Off: Shirt, shoes, no service. I want it off. I want it all off!

Make Some Noise: You don’t have to impersonate R. Kelly, but please let me know when and where I’m pleasing you.

Watch The Hair: Unless you’re pulling it intentionally, please don’t pin my hair down accidentally. It hurts and I don’t want to ruin the mood by complaining about it.

Look Me In The Eye: We don’t have to lock eyes forever, but a solid check-in makes me feel desired and gives me the chance to flash you a sexy look.

Focus On The Sweet Action: Don’t be high-five-ing yourself in the mirror, writing your grocery list in your head, etc. I’m right in front of you, and I’m naked. Focus!

Ask Me What I Like: You might really like what I say.

Let Me Know What You Like: If I’m sleeping with you, I want to make this fun for everyone. So, don’t be shy, boys.

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10 Things You Have To Do In Bed

Last week, John “Mind Of Man” DeVore warned us not to compliment a man when his is naked. Noted, buddy. But I have to say, as a woman, and a whole lot of one at that, even though you’ve already taken me home and gotten me naked, I still need to hear that you are ready for this jelly. Say something nice. Otherwise, I’ll think you’re not telling me how nice my booty is because you don’t like what you see. I swear, I’m not normally so insecure, but when I drop my dress, you need to start the sweet talkin’. Even if it’s a lie and you’re glad I turned the lights off, just tell me I’m pretty. You gotta do that, gentleman, and eight more things during sex besides get off ...

Take Some Initiative: Don’t just do what you know is going to get me off. Have fun, show me what you like to do to me. Don’t simply go through the motions.

Kiss Something Besides My Mouth: My lips are like one percent of me; your kiss feels good on the other 99 percent.

Take All Your Clothes Off: Shirt, shoes, no service. I want it off. I want it all off!

Make Some Noise: You don’t have to impersonate R. Kelly, but please let me know when and where I’m pleasing you.

Watch The Hair: Unless you’re pulling it intentionally, please don’t pin my hair down accidentally. It hurts and I don’t want to ruin the mood by complaining about it.

Look Me In The Eye: We don’t have to lock eyes forever, but a solid check-in makes me feel desired and gives me the chance to flash you a sexy look.

Focus On The Sweet Action: Don’t be high-five-ing yourself in the mirror, writing your grocery list in your head, etc. I’m right in front of you, and I’m naked. Focus!

Ask Me What I Like: You might really like what I say.

Let Me Know What You Like: If I’m sleeping with you, I want to make this fun for everyone. So, don’t be shy, boys.

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Why We Kiss: The Science of Sex

Pecking, smooching, Frenching, and playing tonsil-hockey—there are as many names for kissing as there are ways to do it. Whether we use it as an informal greeting or an intensely romantic gesture, kissing is one of those ingrained human behaviors that seems to defy explanation. Its many purposes—a blow and peck for good luck on dice, lips to ground after a rocky boat ride, kisses in the air to an acquaintance, and the long slow smooches of Hollywood—have different meanings yet are similar in nature. So why is it that we love to pucker up?



A Kiss Isn’t Just a Kiss

Philematologists, the scientists who study kissing, aren’t exactly sure why humans started locking lips in the first place. The most likely theory is that it stems from primate mothers passing along chewed food to their toothless babies. The lip-to-lip contact may have been passed on through evolution, not only as a necessary means of survival, but also as a general way to promote social bonding and as an expression of love.





But something’s obviously happened to kissing since the time of the chewed-food pass. Now, it’s believed that kissing helps transfer critical information, rather than just meat bits. The kissing we associate with romantic courtship may help us to choose a good mate, send chemical signals, and foster long-term relationships. All of this is important in evolution’s ultimate goal—successful procreation.

Kissing allows us to get close enough to a mate to assess essential characteristics about them, none of which we’re consciously processing. Part of this information exchange is most likely facilitated by pheromones, chemical signals that are passed between animals to help send messages. We know that animals use pheromones to alert their peers of things like mating, food sources, and danger, and researchers hypothesize that pheromones can play a role in human behavior as well. Although the vomeronasal organs, which are responsible for pheromone detection and brain function in animals, are thought to be vestigial and inactive in humans, research indicates we do communicate with chemicals.

The first study to indicate that chemical signals play a role in attraction was conducted by Claud Wedekind over a decade ago. Women sniffed the worn t-shirts of men and indicated which shirts smelled best to them. By comparing the DNA of the women and the men, researchers found that women didn’t just chose their favorite scent randomly. They preferred the scent of man whose major histocompatibility complex (MHC)—a series of genes involved in our immune system—was different from their own. Having a different MHC means less immune overlap and a better chance of healthy, robust offspring. Kissing may be a subtle way for women to assess the immune compatibility of a mate, before she invests too much time and energy in him. Perhaps a bad first kiss means more than first date jitters—it could also mean a real lack of chemistry.



Men Sloppy, Women Choosy

Behavioral research supports this biological reasoning. In 2007, researchers at University of Albany studied 1,041 college student and found significant differences in how males and females perceived kissing. Although common in courtship, females put more importance on kissing, and most would never have sex without kissing first. Men, on the other hand, would have sex without kissing beforehand; they would also have sex with someone who wasn’t a good kisser. Since females across species are often the choosier ones when it comes to mate selection, these differences in kissing behavior make sense.



Men are also more likely to initiate French kissing and researchers hypothesize that this is because saliva contains testosterone, which can increase libido. Researchers also think that men might be able to pick up on a woman’s level of estrogen, which is a predictor of fertility.



Crazy for Canoodling

But kissing isn’t all mating practicality; it also feels good. That’s because kissing unleashes a host of feel-good chemicals, helping to reduce stress and increase social bonding. Researcher Wendy Hill and colleagues at Lafayette College looked at how oxytocin, which is involved in pair bonding and attachment, and cortisol, a stress hormone, changed after people kissed. Using a small sample of college couples that were in long-term relationships, they found cortisol levels decreased after kissing. The longer the couples had been in a relationship, the farther their levels dropped. Cortisol levels also decreased for the control group—couples that just held hands—indicating that social attachment in general can decrease stress levels, not just kissing.

Looking at oxytocin levels, the researchers found that they increased only in the males, whereas the researchers thought it would increase in both sexes. They hypothesized that it could be that women need more than a kiss to stimulate attachment and bonding, or that the sterile environment of the research lab wasn’t conducive to creating a feeling of attachment.



Kissing, therefore, plays a role not only in mate selection, but also in bonding. At an Association for the Advancement of Science meeting on the science of kissing, Helen Fischer, an evolutionary biologist, posits multiple reasons for lip locking. She believes that kissing is involved in the three main types of attraction humans have: sex drive, which is ruled by testosterone; romantic love, which is ruled by dopamine and other feel-good hormones; and attachment, which involves bonding chemicals like oxytocin. Kissing, she postulates, evolved to help on all three fronts. Saliva, swapped during romantic kisses, has testosterone in it; feel-good chemicals are distributed when we kiss that help fuel romance; and kissing also helps unleash chemicals that promote bonding, which provides for long term attachment, necessary for raising offspring.



Sniff, Snuggle, and Turn Right

Yet, not all cultures or mammals kiss. Some mammals have close contact with each others’ faces via licking, grooming, and sniffing, which may transmit the necessary information. And although chimps may pass food from mother to child, the notoriously promiscuous bonobos are apparently the only primates that truly kiss. And while it’s thought that 90 percent of the human population kisses, there’s still the 10 percent that doesn’t. So it seems that as much as we use kissing to gather genetic and compatibility information, our penchant for kissing also has to do with our cultural beliefs surrounding it.



Whether we live in a place where kissing is reserved for close acquaintances, or somewhere where a casual greeting means a one, two, or three cheeker, one thing does remain highly consistent: the side to which people turn while kissing. It’s almost always to the right. A 2003 study published in Nature found that twice as many adults turn their heads to the right rather than the left when kissing. This behavioral asymmetry is thought to stem from the same preference for head turning during the final weeks of gestation and during infancy.

Why We Kiss: The Science of Sex

Pecking, smooching, Frenching, and playing tonsil-hockey—there are as many names for kissing as there are ways to do it. Whether we use it as an informal greeting or an intensely romantic gesture, kissing is one of those ingrained human behaviors that seems to defy explanation. Its many purposes—a blow and peck for good luck on dice, lips to ground after a rocky boat ride, kisses in the air to an acquaintance, and the long slow smooches of Hollywood—have different meanings yet are similar in nature. So why is it that we love to pucker up?



A Kiss Isn’t Just a Kiss

Philematologists, the scientists who study kissing, aren’t exactly sure why humans started locking lips in the first place. The most likely theory is that it stems from primate mothers passing along chewed food to their toothless babies. The lip-to-lip contact may have been passed on through evolution, not only as a necessary means of survival, but also as a general way to promote social bonding and as an expression of love.





But something’s obviously happened to kissing since the time of the chewed-food pass. Now, it’s believed that kissing helps transfer critical information, rather than just meat bits. The kissing we associate with romantic courtship may help us to choose a good mate, send chemical signals, and foster long-term relationships. All of this is important in evolution’s ultimate goal—successful procreation.

Kissing allows us to get close enough to a mate to assess essential characteristics about them, none of which we’re consciously processing. Part of this information exchange is most likely facilitated by pheromones, chemical signals that are passed between animals to help send messages. We know that animals use pheromones to alert their peers of things like mating, food sources, and danger, and researchers hypothesize that pheromones can play a role in human behavior as well. Although the vomeronasal organs, which are responsible for pheromone detection and brain function in animals, are thought to be vestigial and inactive in humans, research indicates we do communicate with chemicals.

The first study to indicate that chemical signals play a role in attraction was conducted by Claud Wedekind over a decade ago. Women sniffed the worn t-shirts of men and indicated which shirts smelled best to them. By comparing the DNA of the women and the men, researchers found that women didn’t just chose their favorite scent randomly. They preferred the scent of man whose major histocompatibility complex (MHC)—a series of genes involved in our immune system—was different from their own. Having a different MHC means less immune overlap and a better chance of healthy, robust offspring. Kissing may be a subtle way for women to assess the immune compatibility of a mate, before she invests too much time and energy in him. Perhaps a bad first kiss means more than first date jitters—it could also mean a real lack of chemistry.



Men Sloppy, Women Choosy

Behavioral research supports this biological reasoning. In 2007, researchers at University of Albany studied 1,041 college student and found significant differences in how males and females perceived kissing. Although common in courtship, females put more importance on kissing, and most would never have sex without kissing first. Men, on the other hand, would have sex without kissing beforehand; they would also have sex with someone who wasn’t a good kisser. Since females across species are often the choosier ones when it comes to mate selection, these differences in kissing behavior make sense.



Men are also more likely to initiate French kissing and researchers hypothesize that this is because saliva contains testosterone, which can increase libido. Researchers also think that men might be able to pick up on a woman’s level of estrogen, which is a predictor of fertility.



Crazy for Canoodling

But kissing isn’t all mating practicality; it also feels good. That’s because kissing unleashes a host of feel-good chemicals, helping to reduce stress and increase social bonding. Researcher Wendy Hill and colleagues at Lafayette College looked at how oxytocin, which is involved in pair bonding and attachment, and cortisol, a stress hormone, changed after people kissed. Using a small sample of college couples that were in long-term relationships, they found cortisol levels decreased after kissing. The longer the couples had been in a relationship, the farther their levels dropped. Cortisol levels also decreased for the control group—couples that just held hands—indicating that social attachment in general can decrease stress levels, not just kissing.

Looking at oxytocin levels, the researchers found that they increased only in the males, whereas the researchers thought it would increase in both sexes. They hypothesized that it could be that women need more than a kiss to stimulate attachment and bonding, or that the sterile environment of the research lab wasn’t conducive to creating a feeling of attachment.



Kissing, therefore, plays a role not only in mate selection, but also in bonding. At an Association for the Advancement of Science meeting on the science of kissing, Helen Fischer, an evolutionary biologist, posits multiple reasons for lip locking. She believes that kissing is involved in the three main types of attraction humans have: sex drive, which is ruled by testosterone; romantic love, which is ruled by dopamine and other feel-good hormones; and attachment, which involves bonding chemicals like oxytocin. Kissing, she postulates, evolved to help on all three fronts. Saliva, swapped during romantic kisses, has testosterone in it; feel-good chemicals are distributed when we kiss that help fuel romance; and kissing also helps unleash chemicals that promote bonding, which provides for long term attachment, necessary for raising offspring.



Sniff, Snuggle, and Turn Right

Yet, not all cultures or mammals kiss. Some mammals have close contact with each others’ faces via licking, grooming, and sniffing, which may transmit the necessary information. And although chimps may pass food from mother to child, the notoriously promiscuous bonobos are apparently the only primates that truly kiss. And while it’s thought that 90 percent of the human population kisses, there’s still the 10 percent that doesn’t. So it seems that as much as we use kissing to gather genetic and compatibility information, our penchant for kissing also has to do with our cultural beliefs surrounding it.



Whether we live in a place where kissing is reserved for close acquaintances, or somewhere where a casual greeting means a one, two, or three cheeker, one thing does remain highly consistent: the side to which people turn while kissing. It’s almost always to the right. A 2003 study published in Nature found that twice as many adults turn their heads to the right rather than the left when kissing. This behavioral asymmetry is thought to stem from the same preference for head turning during the final weeks of gestation and during infancy.

Madden NFL 12

Madden NFL 12 is a released American football video game based on the National Football League that is being developed by EA Tiburon and will be published by EA Sports. It was released on August 30, 2011 in North America and September 2, 2011 in Europe.

The demo was released on August 9, featuring a game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.^[3]

New features

EA Sports has revealed 25 new plays added to Madden NFL 12.^[4]

[edit] Gameplay

• The kickoffs are now at the 35-yard line due to the 2011 NFL lockout rule change.
• Onside kicks can be executed from standard kickoff formations.
• Tuner sets can be downloaded in order for developers to improve gameplay code without the distribution of official patches.
• To support awareness for concussions, players who suffer a concussion during gameplay will no longer be allowed to return to the game.^[5]
• A new collision system uses momentum to produce more authentic tackling and hits with 100 new tackle animations, including 40 gang tackles.
• AI enhancements allow players in zone and man coverage to correctly recognize and react to plays with the capability to break out of assignments when necessary.
• The custom playbooks feature allows the player to modify an existing playbook or create his or her own by selecting plays from 75 playbooks.
• The opening presentation for games includes mascots and cheerleaders for all teams that have them.
• Player traits change dynamically throughout a game based on his performance.
• Quarterbacks have distinct throwing motions, making them look much more like their real-life counterparts.

[edit] Franchise mode

• During free agency in franchise mode, players bid auction-style against other general managers for free agents.
• Expanded rosters in the preseason allow teams to have 75 players on the roster and need to make roster cuts each week.
• Unlike previous versions of Madden NFL, players can trade for future draft picks.
• There are also hot and cold streaks that will affect player ratings throughout the season.

[edit] Cover athlete

On March 21, 2011, EA began a bracket style 32-player tournament for fans to vote and decide who would appear on the cover for the 2012 edition of Madden.^[6] The two players in the final round of the tournament were running back Peyton Hillis of the Cleveland Browns and quarterback Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles. Peyton Hillis was announced as the winner on ESPN's SportsNation.^[7] Peyton Hillis won the vote 66% to 34%.

Madden NFL 12

Madden NFL 12 is a released American football video game based on the National Football League that is being developed by EA Tiburon and will be published by EA Sports. It was released on August 30, 2011 in North America and September 2, 2011 in Europe.

The demo was released on August 9, featuring a game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.^[3]

New features

EA Sports has revealed 25 new plays added to Madden NFL 12.^[4]

[edit] Gameplay

• The kickoffs are now at the 35-yard line due to the 2011 NFL lockout rule change.
• Onside kicks can be executed from standard kickoff formations.
• Tuner sets can be downloaded in order for developers to improve gameplay code without the distribution of official patches.
• To support awareness for concussions, players who suffer a concussion during gameplay will no longer be allowed to return to the game.^[5]
• A new collision system uses momentum to produce more authentic tackling and hits with 100 new tackle animations, including 40 gang tackles.
• AI enhancements allow players in zone and man coverage to correctly recognize and react to plays with the capability to break out of assignments when necessary.
• The custom playbooks feature allows the player to modify an existing playbook or create his or her own by selecting plays from 75 playbooks.
• The opening presentation for games includes mascots and cheerleaders for all teams that have them.
• Player traits change dynamically throughout a game based on his performance.
• Quarterbacks have distinct throwing motions, making them look much more like their real-life counterparts.

[edit] Franchise mode

• During free agency in franchise mode, players bid auction-style against other general managers for free agents.
• Expanded rosters in the preseason allow teams to have 75 players on the roster and need to make roster cuts each week.
• Unlike previous versions of Madden NFL, players can trade for future draft picks.
• There are also hot and cold streaks that will affect player ratings throughout the season.

[edit] Cover athlete

On March 21, 2011, EA began a bracket style 32-player tournament for fans to vote and decide who would appear on the cover for the 2012 edition of Madden.^[6] The two players in the final round of the tournament were running back Peyton Hillis of the Cleveland Browns and quarterback Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles. Peyton Hillis was announced as the winner on ESPN's SportsNation.^[7] Peyton Hillis won the vote 66% to 34%.

Ron Artest

Ronald William "Ron" Artest, Jr. (born November 13, 1979) is an American professional basketball player and rapper who is currently with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. Artest gained a reputation as one of the league's premier defenders as he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2004. He was a major participant in the Pacers–Pistons brawl and is known for his sometimes eccentric, outspoken behavior.

Biography

Artest was born and raised in the Queensbridge projects in Queens, New York. Artest has two younger brothers, Isaiah and Daniel.^[1] He played high school basketball at La Salle Academy and college basketball at St. John's University from 1997–1999.^[2][3] In 1999, he helped the Red Storm to the Elite Eight, losing to Ohio State in a classic game. He gained fame playing in some of New York City's high profile summer basketball tournaments at Nike Pro City, Hoops in the Sun at Orchard Beach, Bronx, New York and Dyckman Park at Washington Heights, earning himself nicknames such as Tru Warier^[4] and The New World Order, a name he received from Randy Cruz (one of the co-founders of the Hoops In The Sun basketball league at Orchard Beach in the Bronx, New York).

As a teenager, he was teamed with Elton Brand of the Philadelphia 76ers and current teammate Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Lakers on the same AAU team.^[3]

Growing up in a rough neighborhood Artest claims he witnessed the murder of a fellow player on a basketball court. "It was so competitive, they broke a leg from a table and they threw it, it went right through his heart and he died right on the court. So I'm accustomed to playing basketball really rough."^[5] The player Artest was speaking of was 19-year-old Lloyd Newton, who was stabbed in the back with a broken-off table leg during an altercation at a 1991 YMCA-sanctioned basketball tournament.^[6]

Chicago Bulls

Artest was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th pick of the 1999 NBA Draft.^[7][8]

Artest played a total of 175 games for the Bulls over 2-1/2 years, the bulk as a starter, during which time he averaged about 12.5 points and just over 4 rebounds per game. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in the 1999–2000 season.

Midway through the 2001–02 season, Artest was traded by Chicago to the Indiana Pacers along with Ron Mercer, Brad Miller, and Kevin Ollie, in exchange for Jalen Rose, Travis Best, Norman Richardson, and a 2nd round draft pick.^[9]

Indiana Pacers

Following his trade to the Pacers, Artest had the best season of his professional career. During the 2003–04 season, he averaged 18.3 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, and 3.7 assists per game. Artest made the 2004 All-Star Game as a reserve and was named the Defensive Player of the Year. He wore three jersey numbers for the Pacers: 15, 23 and 91.

Pacers–Pistons brawl

Main article: Pacers–Pistons brawl

On November 19, 2004, Artest was at the center of an altercation among players and fans during a game in Auburn Hills, Michigan between Artest's Pacers and the home team Detroit Pistons.

The brawl began when Artest fouled Pistons center Ben Wallace as Wallace was putting up a shot. Wallace, upset at being fouled hard when the game was effectively over (the Pacers led 97–82 with less than 50 seconds to go), responded by shoving Artest, leading to an altercation near the scorer's table. Artest walked to the sideline and lay down on the scorer's table. Reacting to Wallace throwing something at Artest, Pistons fan John Green threw a cup of Diet Coke^[10] at Artest, hitting him. Artest jumped into the front-row seats and confronted a man he incorrectly believed to be responsible, which in turn erupted into a brawl between Pistons fans and several of the Pacers. Artest returned to the basketball court, and punched Pistons fan A.J. Shackleford, who was apparently taunting Artest verbally.^[11] This fight resulted in the game being stopped with less than a minute remaining. Artest's teammates Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson were suspended indefinitely the day after the game, along with Wallace.

On November 21, the NBA suspended Artest for the rest of the regular season, plus any playoff games. All told, Artest missed 86 games (73 regular season games plus 13 playoff games), the longest suspension for an on-court incident in NBA history. Eight other players (four Pacers and four Pistons) received suspensions, without pay, which ranged from one to thirty games in length. Each of the Pacers players involved were levied fines and ordered to do community service. Several fans were also charged and were banned from attending Pistons games for life. Artest lost approximately $7 million in salary due to the suspension.

Aftermath and trade

Early in the 2005–06 season, Artest requested a trade from the Indiana Pacers and was put on the team's inactive roster. Artest's call for a trade created a rift between him and his teammates. "We felt betrayed, a little disrespected," teammate Jermaine O'Neal said. As for their basketball relationship, O'Neal said: "The business relationship is over. That's fact." Pacers president Larry Bird said he also felt "betrayed" and "disappointed."^[12]

On January 24, 2006, reports from NBA sources confirmed that the Sacramento Kings had agreed to trade Peja Stojaković to the Pacers for Artest. However, before the trade could be completed, many press outlets reported that Artest had informed team management that he did not want to go to Sacramento. According to Artest's agent, his original trade request was only made because he was upset when he heard rumors that the Pacers were going to trade him to Sacramento for Stojaković early in the season. While not denying his agent's story, Artest did deny that he had rejected the trade to Sacramento, saying that he would play anywhere; hence, contradicting earlier press accounts stating Artest was holding up the trade. Given conflicting accounts, it is unclear why the trade was delayed, but it was nevertheless completed on January 25 and Artest was officially sent to the Kings for Stojaković.

Sacramento Kings

Artest during his tenure with the Sacramento Kings.

Though traded midseason to the Kings franchise, Artest quickly found his place on the team by providing some much needed defense.^[13] Though many feared his abrasive personality would be a problem, he worked well with his teammates and then-coach Rick Adelman. Artest wore #93 for his jersey number with the Kings. After acquiring Artest in late January 2006, the team immediately went on a 14–5 run, the team's best run of the season. The Kings broke .500 and landed the eighth spot in the Western Conference. This prompted ESPN to declare that "Ron Artest has breathed new life in the Sacramento Kings and enhanced their chances of reaching the playoffs for the ninth straight year."^[14] Fox Sports proclaimed, "Artest has Kings back in playoff hunt."^[13]

He was suspended for Game 2 of the team's first-round series against the San Antonio Spurs following a flagrant foul (elbow to the head) on Manu Ginóbili. The Kings eventually were eliminated from the playoffs in six games.

After the playoffs, Artest offered to donate his entire salary to keep teammate Bonzi Wells with the team, who became a free agent after the 2005–06 NBA season. He even jokingly threatened to kill Wells if he did not re-sign with the Kings.^[15] Wells was later picked up by the Houston Rockets and then traded to the New Orleans Hornets for former Sacramento Kings player Bobby Jackson. Artest also offered to donate his salary to retain the services of head coach Rick Adelman, whose contract expired after the same season. Adelman and the Kings did not agree on a contract extension so the two parted ways.

Houston Rockets

Artest playing for the Houston Rockets in the 2008–09 NBA season.

On July 29, 2008, it was reported that Artest was to be traded to the Houston Rockets along with Patrick Ewing, Jr. and Sean Singletary for Bobby Jackson, recently drafted forward Donté Greene, a 2009 first-round draft pick, and cash considerations.^[16] The deal was made official on August 14, due to Greene's rookie contract signing on July 14.^[17] In response to the trade, Yao Ming was generally positive, but jokingly said that "hopefully he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands." In response, Artest said, "This is Tracy (McGrady) and Yao's team, you know. I'm not going to take it personal. I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto. That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture."^[18]

Since then, Artest and Yao have exchanged extensive phone calls. Artest has also said, "Whatever Adelman needs me to do, whether that's come off the bench, sixth, seventh man, start, I don't even care. Whatever he needs me to do, I'm 100 percent sure it's going to work out."^[19]

On October 30, 2008, Artest received his first technical as a Houston Rocket, as he raced towards a group of Dallas Mavericks players and then quickly went to Yao Ming who bumped Josh Howard after play stopped. Artest was trying to pull Ming away from the play and to the foul line, but contact was made with Maverick players. The TNT broadcast crew felt this technical was not warranted, and was based upon Artest's prior reputation as a feisty player in the league. In the playoffs, Artest helped the Rockets advance past the first round for the first time in 11 seasons.^[20] In Game 2 of the second round against the Los Angeles Lakers, Artest, who was battling for rebounding position with Kobe Bryant, was elbowed in the neck by Bryant, which was later ruled to be a Type 1 flagrant foul. After being called for an offensive foul, Artest was indignant and proceeded to antagonize Bryant after the play, which eventually led to an ejection by Joe Crawford.^[21] In Game 3, Artest was again ejected in the fourth quarter after a hard foul on Pau Gasol, who was attempting to dunk on a fast-break. It was determined the next day that the foul was not serious enough to warrant an ejection, and the flagrant foul was downgraded.^[22]

Los Angeles Lakers

Artest shoots over defender Ryan Gomes.

In July 2009, the Los Angeles Lakers signed Artest to a five-year deal worth about $33 million.^[23][24][25] Artest chose the number 37 jersey, which he said was in honor of Michael Jackson. Jackson's Thriller album was at No. 1 on the charts for 37 straight weeks.^[26]

In Game 5 of the 2010 Western Conference Finals, Artest hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer after grabbing a last second offensive rebound. He scored 25 points against the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 and went to the NBA Finals for the first time in his career. In the finals, the Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics, four games to three. Artest scored 20 points in the clincher and sank the team's last field goal – a three-pointer late in the fourth quarter – to virtually seal the victory.^[27] Afterwards, Lakers head coach Phil Jackson called Artest the most valuable player of Game 7 against the Celtics.^[28][29] He won his first championship ring with the Lakers.

For the 2010–2011 season, Artest switched back to number 15, his college number at St. John’s and the first number he wore in his NBA career.^[30]

On April 26, 2011, Artest won the NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.^[31]

Career transactions

• June 30, 1999: Drafted 16th overall by Chicago Bulls in 1999 NBA Draft.
• February 19, 2002: Traded by Chicago along with Ron Mercer, Brad Miller and Kevin Ollie to the Indiana Pacers for Jalen Rose, Travis Best, Norman Richardson and a future second-round draft pick.^[32]
• January 25, 2006: Traded by Indiana to the Sacramento Kings for Peja Stojaković.^[33]
• August 21, 2008: Traded by Sacramento along with Patrick Ewing, Jr. and Sean Singletary to the Houston Rockets for Bobby Jackson, Donté Greene and a future first-round draft pick.^[34]
• July 8, 2009: Signed by the Los Angeles Lakers for a 5-year deal worth 33 million dollars.^[25]

Endorsements and media presence

Artest celebrates at the 2010 Lakers Championship parade.

Artest currently endorses Chinese athletics brand Peak Sport Products along with former teammate Sasha Vujačić.

In April 2010, it was announced that Artest would help develop and produce his own reality show, They Call Me Crazy, in conjunction with E1 Entertainment and Tijuana Entertainment.^[35]

On December 18, 2010, an art show honoring Ron Artest was held in Toronto, Canada. Entitled Lovable Badass, the show featured work by 30 Canadian and American artists, illustrators, painters and sculptors inspired by the athlete. Artest made a surprise appearance at the exhibition's opening night, commenting that “(the show) was definitely special. It was unexpected. Overwhelming.”^[36]

Advocacy

In 2008, Artest appeared in a video promoting companion animal spaying and neutering for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals entitled "Have the balls to spay or neuter your dog."^[37]

Artest has become involved in advocacy relating to mental health issues.^[38] In December 2010, he announced that he would donate some or all of his salary for the 2011–2012 NBA season toward mental health awareness charities. Artest also auctioned off his 2009-10 championship ring and donated the proceeds to various mental health charities nationwide. ^[39]

On June 23, 2011, TMZ reported that Artest had filed a petition in L.A. County Superior Court to change his name to Metta World Peace.^[40][41]