Ron Artest joins Dancing with the Stars cast

Ron Artest © Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty

Ron Artest is a professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers, but due to the NBA lockout (for all non-sports fans: a situation where players and owners fail to reach a new contract) he has much more time on his hands. Now the athlete has joined the cast of the 13th season of Dancing with the Stars, although he actually doesn't dance and isn't a big fan of the dressing up. So what made hime decide to start dancing? His daughter Diamond, she said "Daddy, you should do it." Diamond is now 8-years old, but she battled cancer at age 4, the possibility to raise money for cancer research played a role in Ron's decision to put on his dancing shoes. "I had a change to play basketball overseas and I had a chance to do Dancing with the Stars. She asked me to do it, and I thought I could dance and raise some money for cancer research. I'm going to donate the profits," Ron, 31, said.