Earlier today, I guaranteed to myself that I would walk across the street and buy two bagels and an iced coffee.

And, I did it.

Some guarantees are easier to fulfill than others.

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times blog reports:

Ron Artest guaranteed to ESPN Los Angeles’ Stephen A. Smith in a 40-minute interview Wednesday that the Lakers will again pop the champagne bottles after winning the 2012 NBA title. Assuming there’s a season of course.

“Win it all,” Artest said when asked what will the Lakers do in the 2011-2012 season. “Win the whole thing. That’s a guarantee.”

Artest didn’t sound as confident about guaranteeing that he and his dance partner,  Peta Murgatroyd, would win in “Dancing with the Stars,” admitting “that’s going to be a problem.

The Lakers definitely still seem like a title contender. Although they got smoked by the eventual title-winner Dallas Mavericks in last year’s playoffs, on paper the Lakers continue to be as good as anyone out West.

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The state of Utah has some basketball fun coming later in September thanks to a couple of NBA players setting up a pair of exhibition game battles.

Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune reports:

Jimmer Fredette and Kemba Walker matched up against each other June 15 during a pre-draft workout for the Jazz in Salt Lake City. Now, the duo will team up for two charity events based in Utah while the NBA is stuck in a lockout.

Walker was confirmed Wednesday to participate in two exhibition games hosted by Fredette. Walker, a rookie guard and former Connecticut standout, was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats with the ninth overall pick during the 2011 NBA Draft. Fredette was taken No. 10 by the Sacramento Kings.

“I have always been a big fan and have a lot of respect for Kemba,” Fredette said in a press release. “We had the chance to work out together before the draft and have become friends.”

The charity games will be held Sept. 21 (Salt Lake City) and 22 (Provo). Other participating players will be announced during the coming weeks.

Hey Jazz fans: Go hit the games! It may be the best basketball you catch in the near future.

As NBA players realize that sitting around bored is no way to spend the summer, some really fun exhibition games loosely pitting city against city have emerged. Wish there were more of these games? Same here.

If Hakim Warrick gets his way, another good one should come soon.

Marc Stein of ESPN reports:

After watching Carmelo Anthony host some of the game’s biggest names for a glitzy summer-league game in his hometown, Phoenix Suns forward and Philadelphia native Hakim Warrick is trying to arrange a Philly-versus-Baltimore showdown against Anthony’s crew.

Warrick told ESPN.com that he and Anthony, former college teammates at Syracuse, spoke Wednesday and have tentatively arranged to stage an exhibition game in Philadelphia before the end of September.

“I was trying to do a Philly and Baltimore game awhile ago,” Warrick said. “Then when I saw Drew League vs. Goodman League and Team Melo vs. Goodman [on Tuesday night], I was like, ‘Man, let me go ahead and set this up.’

“I told [Anthony] that we want to play them next and they have to come up to Philly. And he said he’s with it.”

Warrick says he’ll try to recruit Philadelphia-reared stalwarts such as Sacramento’s Tyreke Evans, Orlando’s Jameer Nelson and Detroit’s Richard Hamilton to play on the Philly squad. Other players Warrick expects to play include Houston’s Kyle Lowry, Sacramento’s John Salmons, Minnesota’s Wayne Ellington, Charlotte’s Gerald Henderson, veteran NBA guard Ronald Murray (who finished last season in Turkey) and recent draftees Markieff and Marcus Morris, who were selected in the first round in June by Phoenix and Houston, respectively.

In the ideal world, we’d have a game like this every week, all summer long.

Of course, in an even more ideal world, there’d be no lockout, and we’d be previewing the upcoming season.

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As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Montepaschi Siena is interested in Andrea Bargnani for the upcoming season, at least until NBA lockout ends. Il Mago has never talked about the possibility to return overseas during the lockout postponing any decision after Eurobasket where he is playing with Italian National Team. Toronto Raptors star is receiving a lot of proposals to play in Europe also by European top tems but Siena is ready to make a big offer for him when NBA will officially put off the beginning of the NBA season. In the meantime, Bargnani is thinking to extend his insurance even for the period after Eurobasket to get ready for a proposal to play overseas if he decides to play somewhere else during the lockout.

– Reported by Sportando

Tony Parker, star of San Antonio Spurs, has denied straight away his signing with ASVEL Villeurbanne during the NBA lockout. “I did not sign any contract with ASVEL. I am not saying I would not like to play with ASVEL during the lockout but the problem with the insurance is very difficult to solve. And now everything is stopped because I am playing with French NT. I am asking to the media to stop talking about me playing in France during the lockout. I don’t know if we will be able to fix the issue with insurance and I don’t want people mad at me because I won’t play in ASVEL even if all the media reported something different one month earlier” said Parker.

– Reported by Sportando.