Is Artest coming to town?

Waffle Marketing president Auty Villarama is feverishly making calls to line up sponsors for a proposed Ron Artest tour in Manila next month. He’s trying to tie loose ends for Artest to swing by Manila after a trip to Beijing where the Los Angeles Lakers forward is booked to promote the Chinese sneaker brand Peak.

“We need sponsors for Artest to come,” said Villarama. “That’s why I’m pushing brands due to limited time.”

It was Villarama who spoke excitedly about Artest’s love for adobo and halo-halo.

“Artest often visits the home of a Filipino family in Los Angeles,” said Villarama. “They cook his favorite Filipino food for him. He has a lot of Filipino friends and fans. That’s why he’s interested to come to Manila. Through his agent and Filipino friends, Artest sent word that he’s available to do product endorsements in the Philippines and conduct clinics at any level.”

In the internet, you can find a twitter video on Artest singing videoke in what appears to be a Filipino home.

Artest is married to his high school sweetheart Kimsha Hatfield. They have three children together, a boy and two girls Sadie and Diamond. His youngest, Diamond, 6, has a cancerous tumor in the kidney and undergoes chemotherapy. Artest has a son with another woman, supposedly a Filipina.

Artest was once quoted as saying he has a half-Filipino, half-Afro-American son now living in Puerto Rico. He made the disclosure during the Beverly Hills press conference for the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight last year. Artest has two sons Jeron and Ron III. It’s not certain which of the two is his half-Filipino son.

In an open letter to golfer Tiger Woods published in his website last year, Artest admitted “I had a baby with another young lady after I already had two by my girlfriend (Kimsha) who is now my wife.”

Artest said he has known his wife since he was 14. “She was my first,” Artest said in his letter to Woods. “On the way to 2010, we had many ups and downs, mostly my fault. But I really choose to work hard and play ball to support her and my kids. The same reason you are building your legacy.”

After the Lakers clinched the NBA title in a Game 7 win over Boston at the Staples Center last Thursday, Artest could hardly control his emotions in a TV interview. He greeted his wife, children and psychiatrist.

Artest grew up in a rough neighborhood in Queens, New York. The oldest of six children, he was raised in a large housing project of 96 six-storey buildings – on the first floor of building No. 41, to be exact. His father Ron, Sr. was a Golden Gloves heavyweight boxer and had an irascible temper. When Artest was 12, his parents split up. When he was 13, Artest was brought to a shrink for anger management.

Basketball was Artest’s ticket out of the projects and poverty. At 7, he was tearing up the Catholic Youth Organization league. Artest was a star at La Salle High School then played at St. John’s University.

One of Artest’s father figures Hank Carter, founder and chairman of Wheelchair Charities, said he influenced the player’s strong Christian faith. “I tried to pull Ron closer to God and he was,” said Carter. “Ron will give you the shirt off his back. He’s a great human being. I kept Ron going to church every day. I believed if he gets closer to God, I don’t have to worry about him.”

Artie Cox, who coached Artest and Lakers teammate Lamar Odom in high school, said it’s unfair to label the bull-shouldered forward a head case. “People don’t know how hard Ron worked to get to where he is right now,” said Cox. “They think he is this loose cannon guy, goes to the beat of his own drum and doesn’t pay attention to the rules. Where he came from to get to the NBA is a dramatic story. He was on his own a lot. He was a soldier. He could have quit many times but he had it in his heart. He knew basketball was going to be his out.”

But the records will show that Artest is clearly volatile, temperamental and unpredictable. His involvement in the ugly 2004 brawl during a Detroit-Indiana game led to a 73-game suspension. He was arrested in 2007 for domestic abuse. And the list of incidents of bad behavior reads like a litany.

Despite his tainted past, Artest remains a marketable commodity as an athlete. Lakers coach Phil Jackson gave him a chance to redeem himself this season and Artest didn’t let him down. When Kobe Bryant passed him the ball late in Game 7, Artest didn’t waver and hit a huge triple to virtually ice the contest.

Not too many fans know that in 2004, Artest underwent an operation to correct a heart murmur. Doctors plugged a hole between his aorta and pulmonary artery in a delicate surgery.

* * *

Jackson is in the history books for capturing the most NBA titles in history – 13, two as a player with the New York Knicks in 1970 and 1973 and 11 as a coach with Chicago (six) and Los Angeles (five).

Boston legend Bill Russell claimed 11 championships, nine as a player under coach Red Auerbach and two as a playing coach in 1968 and 1969. Auerbach had nine titles as a coach.

Before last Thursday’s clincher, Jackson had never won a Game 7 in the Finals as a coach – only because none of his 10 previous title series went the distance. In 1970, Jackson was on the injured list and didn’t play for the Knicks during their title run. He was listed on the New York roster so technically, could be considered as part of the championship team. It was in 1970 when the Knicks beat L. A. in a seven-game Finals.

* * *

The 30 winners of our NBA contest will be announced in this Tuesday’s column. All 30 will receive an NBA 2010 All-Star folio-file and three of them will take home a bonus – a long-sleeved grey NBA 2010 All-Star dri-fit shirt.

Postscript. A special privilege awaits you with every Emerald Headway subscription! Present your SM Advantage Prestige Card at Emerald’s bookazine and get 20% discount upon purchasing foreign titles such as Vogue, Elle, In Style, Better Homes, Lucky, Girl Power, Who Weekly, Car & Driver and Famous. For details, call 647-4744 or 647-5631 to 34 or visit the Emerald showroom at 218 Katipunan Ave., Blue Ridge, Q. C. Belated birthday greetings to Emerald executive vice president Cristina Aspiras ... In the story “Will Rivers return for Boston?” published in The Star yesterday (Page A-26), a few words were inadvertently deleted from the lead paragraph which should have read: “Now that the NBA Finals is over, Boston coach Doc Rivers will take time off to decide whether or not to return on the Celtics bench next season. He’s certainly earned another crack at the title after coming close and falling a win shy of his second championship.”