THE SPORT COUNT

Ron has been in the news a lot lately, with his recent blockbuster trade to the Houston Rockets, and the ensuing conjecture as to whether the Queensbridge repping Ronald could coexist with the Rockets’ main man in the middle, Yao Ming.

But let’s get away from Ron’s current newsworthiness and delve back into the reason that we love him: his incredibly sincere and consistently amazing off the court adventures.

The Sport Count has already introduced the world to Ron’s journalistic skills, and is now looking to share another aspect of his multi-faceted personality: his love of animals.

Ron Artest: holding two very small dogs.

In short, Ron loves dogs. He loves the little fellas. Forget momentarily that Ron has previously been accused of animal cruelty — the NBA’s most caring hothead has recently become heavily involved with animal rights activists PETA. Ron has been singing the praises of the organisation, both on the internet and in a recent print ad campaign titled Have The Balls To Neuter Or Spray Your Dog (not to be confused with Have The Balls To Incite Riots And Not Express Regret).

It’s fair to ask why PETA is partnering with the Don. He’s an interesting choice of ambassador.

The following important consideration offers the answer; Ron, despite his shortcomings, clearly has a very big heart. When you think of some of the mistreatment of animals on the part of star athletes, such as Michael Vick and Qyntel Woods (he’s a star, okay?), it’s a great thing to see someone willing to let kids know that it’s cool to love dogs. And not make them fight each other.

So finally, I’ll leave you guys with the ad, in all of its smart casual glory:

Ron Artest dresses up for his dogs: lol.

Posted By: James