Ron Artest Guarantees A Laker Title In 2012

Ron Arest isn’t afraid of making crazy proclamations, and he’s guaranteeing that the Lakers come back next season and win another championship. Artest told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that he really doesn’t care about the reaction should L.A. not get it done. He’s so focused on a championship that nothing else is entering his mind. While the Lakers should be better simply because last year was such a terrible ending, everything has to fall in line for them to win it again. Injuries, guys having career years, other teams falling off, it all has to happen. They no longer have the most dominating duo in the league, and actually really struggle with some of the best rising teams in the league (Chicago and Miami in the East, Oklahoma City and Memphis in the West). Do you think they can do it again? … Imagine Kevin Garnett instead of Pau Gasol on the Lakers? Would things have been different? Would the Lakers have won three straight titles instead of just two? Would Boston have ever become the team they’ve been the last few years? So many good what ifs. KG said on Dan Patrick’s radio show that he was very close to being a Laker in the summer of 2007, but ended up going east because he wasn’t sure about all of the infighting. He said Kobe and Phil were going at each other pretty bad at the time and he wasn’t sure what the future held in Hollywood. This was the summer Bryant demanded a trade and all seemed lost in L.A. The Lakers started the year getting booed on opening night and with KG all the way across the country, everything looked pretty dreary. It all worked out for both sides, but a combo of Bryant and Garnett would’ve been tough … Pau Gasol had another easy night, missing one shot on his way to 20 points during Spain’s 14-point win over Portugal in the European Championships. For France, Tony Parker sent in 21 points in leading his country to a 17-point win against Israel. Russia and Andrei Kirilenko (20 points) beat Georgia 65-58 while Britain lost to Turkey by nearly 30 even though Luol Deng (22 points) went off. And Germany rode their NBA combo, Dirk Nowitzki (21 points, 12 rebounds) and Chris Kaman (17 & 17), to a big win over Italy … Aquille Carr is the here and now, but who do you think is the most exciting high school player ever? It’s a tough question. But the best answers get reprinted in Dime so it’s worth it to voice your opinion. On top of that, what’s your opinion on the Crime Stopper? How good do you think he can be at the next level and then beyond? We’ve learned never to put a lid on expectations with that dude because he always meets the challenge and then some. Always. That’s a huge reason why he’s on the cover. Some recruiting outlets are seriously disrespecting him. But NBA players aren’t. Derrick Williams called him the best player in high school. Now check out what Brandon Jennings and Kevin Durant were tweeting back and forth at each other after learning of our newest cover … With all of the hate everyone is throwing at the owners right now over the NBA lockout, check out this fascinating story about one of the coolest WNBA owners … And this NBA 2K12 trailer makes us wish we were in high school again and had time to play XBox all day … We’re out like an Artest guarantee.