Lakers’ Ron Artest gives cellphone number to fans

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Lakers forward Ron Artest warns he may change the phone number soon, but for now he’s been taking direct calls from fans.

On his Twitter account, Artest released a phone number while in China with singer Shin Shin. Calls to the number were met with a busy signal and then an automated answer from an operator speaking in Chinese. Nonetheless, a video of Artest fielding calls and text messages has emerged:

Although most of the conversations with Artest seem to be him asking “what’s poppin?”, the newly acquired Laker forward seems perplexed by the lagtime involved with fans from the U.S. calling over to China. Often in the video Artest hangs up impatiently to move on to another caller.

-- Mark Medina