"What am I going to get, five rebounds? I'm still not going to be president with five rebounds."

Ron Artest is not concerned with rebounds or points. "What am I going to do with 10 points?" he asked the LA . "What am I going to do with 15 points? I'm going to be MVP of the NBA?"

The future NFL player/pro boxer, aspiring rap artist, and charity fundraiser is getting ahead of himself. 15 points and five rebounds will not garner Artest the presidency or the league MVP title, but it would nearly double his season average (8.2 points a game and 3.2 rebounds through 20 games). He's not too far off from last season's numbers, but he is off. Deflection is always key, though, and on Monday he kept telling reporters, "We've just got to win games." The Lakers are 14-6 and first in the Pacific Division.

Artest and the Lakers will visit with actual President Barack Obama next Monday, December 13.

Lakers' Ron Artest says it's not about him, it's about the team [LA Times]