EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Ron Artest has signed with the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, the team he says he wanted to join for years. <br />
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Artest, who played for the Houston Rockets last season, received a five-year deal worth about $33 million, according to his agent, David Bauman. <br />
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Seated next to Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, Artest professed that he has wanted to be a Laker for several years, but the timing was never right. <br />
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He agreed to a deal last week, but couldn't sign it until Wednesday. The Lakers also re-signed guard Shannon Brown.