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Jeff of Inside Hoops, the editor of InsideHoops.com, in a Ron Artest rap video

OFFICIAL RON ARTEST GO LOCO VIDEO

The Ron Artest “Go Loco” official video is here:

RON ARTEST GO LOCO OFFICIAL VIDEO FILMING

By Jeff Lenchiner

ron artest go loco rap video

I’ve been visiting Los Angeles since 2011 NBA All-Star weekend in mid February and have enjoyed wild, fun adventures during my extended time in Hollywood. And just when I thought this week, which already featured three straight days of Playboy parties, including two days at the Playboy Mansion, couldn’t get any more interesting, I stumbled into getting cast as a giant panda in the new Ron Artest rap video for his song “Go Loco.”

Relaxing in a trendy hotel lounge in Hollywood Tuesday evening, I ran into famous rapper Fat Joe and his manager Macho, who I know well thanks to the wonderful world of street basketball. (Be sure to check out the great EBC Rucker Park streetball documentary “The Blackout,” featuring Fat Joe, Jay-Z and more.)

Fat Joe, it turned out, was there to film a rap video. I wound up getting invited to attend the taping, and headed downstairs to the video set in legendary exclusive spot Beacher’s Madhouse, for a Ron Artest song called “Go Loco.” Celebs on set for the shoot included Joe, B-Real of Cypress Hill, actor and basketball fan David Arquette, TV host George Lopez and others. Artest and fellow Los Angeles Laker Matt Barnes came later in the evening, a bit late after edging the Phoenix Suns in an intense triple-overtime thriller.

Also on hand for the Artest video shoot were several little people (the video features an area identified by a sign as a “Midget Bar”), a few other interesting characters, and a large heap of very pretty girls who were very good at shaking all sorts of body parts in a wide variety of directions.

Most of the Go Loco filming taking place that night focused on Artest and others relaxing in the club, bouncing around to the song’s beats. I mostly stayed in the back with friends of the rappers by the bar area.

As hours went by with most of the video successfully filmed, celebs and their friends called it a night, leaving me and a fairly small handful of people hanging out to watch until the very end. “Final set,” yelled one assistant.

A producer then came to me and asked how I’d feel about wearing a giant panda costume. I assumed he was kidding and that it was his way of telling me to move or get out. But he was serious; it was in the script. Very few guys were left in the room at the time, and the wearer of the costume had to be tall, so there were actually very few candidates. I stand 6-3 and could handle it.

Faced with a choice, I could call it a night and leave with no involvement in the video, or rock a panda costume in a club.

How could I pass on such a prestigious opportunity? I said yes.

jeff lenchiner

I’ll leave it to you to check out how the video turned out, but I will describe my scene: A flock of hot girls, a giant chicken and a panda bear (me, the editor of InsideHoops.com) enter the nightclub. And… that’s it. The rest got cut.

The video was fun. Check it above.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson thinks city will lose Kings

The AP reports:

Sacramento’s Mayor is already preparing for life without the Kings.

In a strongly worded blog posted on his website Tuesday night, Mayor and former NBA player Kevin Johnson wrote the franchise’s possible relocation to Anaheim “feels like a slow death” and this “will likely be the Kings’ final weeks in Sacramento after 26 years.”

Johnson met with Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof last month and has believed since that the Kings will leave after this season.

After years of not receiving public dollars to build a new arena in Sacramento, the Maloofs began discussions with Anaheim officials about relocating the franchise to Orange County. An attorney representing the Kings also filed for at least four federal trademarks registrations: Anaheim Royals, Anaheim Royals of Southern California, Orange County Royals and Los Angeles Royals.

DeAndre Jordan has pneumonia

DeAndre Jordan has pneumonia

Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan was admitted to Marina Del Rey Hospital Saturday night and was diagnosed with a mild case of pneumonia. He was given intravenous antibiotics and held overnight for further tests.

Jordan’s status has improved significantly from last night and he is responding well to treatment. He will not play in the Clippers game today at STAPLES Center against the Phoenix Suns.

Man with knife arrested on Staples Center court

The AP reports:

Police engaged in a roughly 20-minute standoff Saturday with a knife-wielding man on the floor of Los Angeles’ Staples Center, where the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers were set to play later in the day.

Police tackled and apprehended the man after the face-off on the court near the visitors’ bench area.

Some spectators for the 12:30 p.m. game had begun filing into the arena, but were evacuated once the standoff started.

The Press Enterprise blog reports:

During that time, Staples Center was essentially in a lockdown. A few players — as well as the Clippers’ dance team — were on the court when the incident began but were quickly removed. Those in the building’s backstage area confined to wherever they were as the incident began. For most of the players on both teams — save for the later-arriving Cavaliers players, who were unable to get in — that meant being held in their locker rooms, or the section of hallway in front of them.

For a time, players on both teams, as well as various other personnel, crowded around one of the small monitors used by a broadcast crew, watching a live feed of the incident from the court, wondering how the standoff would be resolved.

Andrew Bynum is a big man

Elliot Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News reports:

Andrew Bynum is a big man

Others are taller and some weigh more, but is there a bigger big man than Andrew Bynum in the NBA? Bynum, officially listed at 7-foot and 285 pounds, certainly measured up against the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard, who’s 6-11, 275.

“He’s a big guy, man,” Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson said of Bynum after the Lakers rallied to defeat the Magic 97-84 on Monday night at Staples Center for their 10th victory in 11 games since the All-Star break.

“He’s a handful,” Nelson continued. “It’s like he’s out there and you think you’ve got the ball, and he has it in his hands. You’re jumping for the ball, but he’s just standing there tipping it to himself to get those extra shots.”

Bynum scored 10 points and matched his career high with 18 rebounds Monday, his fourth consecutive game with 10 or more points and his sixth straight with 12 or more rebounds. He’s had a big impact on the Lakers’ winning ways since the All-Star break.

After rounding into form slowly following offseason right knee surgery that sidelined him for the first 24 games of 2010-11, Bynum has become a force in the paint for the Lakers. His season averages have risen to 11.6 points and 8.8 rebounds.

Baron Davis out due to death of grandmother

Baron Davis out due to death of grandmother

Cavaliers guard Baron Davis’ grandmother Lela “Madea” Nicholson passed away Monday in Los Angeles. Baron did not accompany the team to Milwaukee Tuesday night following the Cavaliers home game against the Warriors and he will now return home to L.A. to be with his family.

As many already know, Baron selected number 85 for his Cavaliers jersey number in tribute to Madea, as her house was on 85th Street.

No specific date for his return to the team has been established.

Deuce watches rep at NBA All-Star in LA

Aside from Blake Griffin dunking over a car, a fun All-Star game, great parties and lots more, a highlight of mine at 2011 NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles back in February was hitting up a beautiful Deuce Brand watch event in a luxury suite high atop the beautiful WaterMarke Tower.

At the event, which Deuce was smart enough to host right near the Staples Center (for reasons that cannot be explained, lots of companies had events at All-Star weekend yet held them in outer parts of Los Angeles that were too far to want to travel to), the new Deuce G2 lifestyle sports watch was introduced.

Rocked by Matt Barnes and other pro athletes, the durable watches can be slammed around, not worried about, and they’ll keep working. Here’s a pic:

Deuce watch at NBA All-Star weekend in LA

Deuce watches are cool. Shoutout to them for a great All-Star suite.

– Jeff

Clippers re-assign Willie Warren to D-League

The Los Angeles Clippers today announced that they have re-assigned rookie guard Willie Warren to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League.

Warren, 21, has appeared in 19 games with the Clippers this season and is averaging 1.9 points and 1.4 assists in 7.1 minutes per game.

The former Oklahoma University standout was originally assigned to Bakersfield on Feb. 2 and appeared in six games with the Jam, averaging 21.0 points, 7.0 assists 5.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point land. The Jam went 5-1 with Warren in the lineup from Feb. 4 – 16.

Warren was selected by the Clippers in the second round (54th overall pick) of the 2010 NBA Draft.

Coach Byron Scott phone call welcomes Baron Davis to Cavaliers

Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

Scott said as he filled in Davis about the city and the organization, and the leadership role he expects the veteran point guard to take, he got the impression that all would be well once Davis reports.

“At the end of the converation, we were laughing about the fact that people say we can’t stand each other, and we were laughing about the fact that he was so disappointed,” Scott said. “He said, ‘Coach, really, I’m looking forward to it. L.A.’s home, and when the season’s over I’ll be back home. But right now I’m looking forward to a change.”