The Charismatic Ron Artest

Welcome to Young Hollywood. Hey guys, Tatiana Diana here, hanging out with my favorite NBA basketball player, Ron Artest. How are you?

I'm doing good. Thank you for that.

I'm not even lying, though. That wasn't just a, you know, sometimes you say stuff because you have to, that was real.

Yeah, you made me, you made me blush. I didn't even blush all day. You made me blush.

I made him blush. So, speaking of blushing, these shoes are making me blush because I'm loving them. What does it take to be a baller? And wear these shoes?

You know, um, to be a baller you just got to be yourself. You know, you got to be yourself and, um, got to have confidence in your self. This shoe's good, though, because it's great for my joints, and it got this molecule called D3O. And it's anybody that plays on concrete and just always running and training, you know, it absorbs all the contact, you know, you know, for your knees and your joints, so I love this shoe.

I see you're giving out your shoes to some people. What's this all about?

Well, you know, just getting the retailers in the stores, you know, familiar with the shoe. It's a new company. Uh, a lot of different, you know, shoe companies trying to get their shoe in store, so we're trying to tell them why they should have the Baller in stores. You know, price at $80. And, um, and I, and I think it's going to be great, you know, and, uh, you know, Ron Artest is with something, you already know. It's going to be fun and exciting. Obviously.

Yes, yes. So, people know you as a basketball player. How did you get into music and what made you kind of follow that passion as well?

Yeah, music is in everybody, you know. And I believe anybody can do music if you put your mind to it. It's fun. You get a chance to express yourself. So, you know, a lot of people like to listen to other music sometimes to kinda, you know, get inspired. But, what about when you can make your own song and inspire yourself? You know, when everybody count you out, you know, and putting you down, you can pick yourself up. And I think that's real important.

So, what, what inspires you when you're writing a song? Are you playing basketball? Are you working out? When do you feel most inspired?

I feel inspired when I see something disturbing in the news on TV or something that's just, you know, passed my life that's, that it needs to be, um, kind of addressed or, or, or I need to inspire somebody. Yeah. Like, inspire another kid, give confidence, you know? Let, let another kid know that, you know, you're the best, you know? And I'll just do a song about anything and I'll give it my all. And as long as I give it 100%, that's all you can ask for.

You're a huge supporter of child psychology. And I love that you're so supportive of that cause. What makes you such a fan?

Well, I think like, you know, not all kids need these services that I'm kind of, you know, an advocate for. But, there's a lot of, you know, troubled youth out there, you know, white, black, Hispanic, Asian, that's filling up these jail systems, you know, committing crimes that they wish they could take back, you know, um, doing drugs that they wish they'd never have done. They're sobering up in jail. By the time they sober up in jail, they're in there for another 10, 20 more years. Some life. You know, and we want to kinda erase the stigma, you know, so kids don't get into those situations, first of all, so they can get the help early if they need it. You know, secondly, you know, we want to, um, you know, we want to empty the jail houses.

Now, is it true that you were actually going to raffle off your championship ring so that you could provide those resources to kids in school?

Yes, and I did already, and we, uh, raised over a million dollars, you know, with the ring. And, um, and also, you know, I just think it was so important. You know, the ring is great. But, I want to show that giving side of Ron Artest.

So, I said in the beginning that you're one of my favorite NBA players and it's because I feel like you're always happy. Even if the team loses, you're spraying the cologne, you're happy. What makes you stay so positive all the time?

First off, when we do lose, inside I am burning up. Right. But, I don't show it. I don't have to show it. You know, it's there already. My fire has been lit to be successful. And I always want to. So, I don't have to, I don't need any extra added motivation. I already want to win. So, with that, with that being said, you know, I feel good every day. You know, um, when you're blessed, I don't really think there's anything to get really upset about. There's things to be motivated about, but there's nothing really to be mad about. Yo, what's good? Thanks for hanging out, Young Hollywood. It's your boy Artest. Thanks for supporting the Baller in shoe. Coming soon. Go cop it. Definitely go cop the mixtape online for free. Watch out for that Go Loco single with George Lopez. We out. One love.