Ariza's agent, David Lee, said the 24-year-old forward passed up a more lucrative contract offer from another team to go to Houston. That team was believed to be Toronto.
"It was never about the money," Lee said. "It was about going someplace where you felt appreciated."
The courtship of Artest began with a phone call from Magic Johnson, continued over the phone with Jackson and ended during a seal-the-deal lunch Thursday with Lakers owner Jerry Buss.
Jackson has always admired Artest from afar and believes he can coach Artest despite the player's sometimes irregular behavior.
Artest offered mutual respect on Thursday.
"I had a great talk today with Phil," Artest said. "I'm a huge fan of his and I can't wait to show him what I can do."
Bryant is a longtime supporter of Artest and even begged the Lakers to trade for him a few years ago, though the two had some brush-ups last season that demonstrated first-hand the unpredictability of Artest.
In Game 2 of the West semifinals between the Lakers and Rockets, Artest was called for an over-the-back foul, complained to the referee, ran across the court to Bryant and got in the face of the Lakers' guard. Artest was angry that Bryant elbowed him while the two were jostling underneath the basket.
After they were separated, Artest pointed at Bryant and then pointed at his own neck, indicating where the blow had landed.
Artest was ejected from the game and said afterward, "I told Kobe, 'You've got to relax. You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?' "
Two months before that, Artest began trash-talking to Bryant in a regular-season game. Bryant responded by scoring 31 points in the second half of a 102-96 Lakers victory.
"It wasn't much of a battle," Bryant said. "I kicked his [butt]"
Artest answered by saying, "We are not friends out there at all. After the season, we might play pickup games or something like that. Not now."
At the very least, Lakers practices should be more entertaining next season.
In case the Lakers hadn't shaken their lack-of-toughness image by winning the championship, adding the barrel-chested Artest won't hurt. He is 6 feet 7, 260 pounds and afraid of practically no one.
He gained several years' worth of notoriety as the centerpiece of one of the NBA's darkest moments, the infamous brawl in 2004 that involved the Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons and numerous fans.
