REPORT: LAKERS ARTEST PLAYING WITH PLANTAR FASCIITIS

Ron Artest is hurting from head to toe ... but still playing. A month after suffering a concussion that caused him to miss time, the Los Angeles Lakers forward said on his Twitter page on Saturday that he has plantar fasciitis in his left and right feet but will keep playing, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

Artest
"I didn't know what was wrong with me," Artest said, according to the newspaper. "I've probably had it a lot of times in my career, but I never, ever sat out with it. I know guys who have actually sat out with sore feet, but there's no need for me to complain about it. I just don't like excuses. That's it. No excuses. I don't want nobody saying, 'Oh, Ron Artest has got plantar fasciitis, so that's why he didn't play a good game.' No, I didn't play good or I didn't do what I did because that's just what happened. No excuses."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson suggested that Artest's foot ailments stem from the sneakers he wears. Artest has an endorsement with Peak, a Chinese company that also outfits the feet of teammate Sasha Vujacic and the Mavericks' Jason Kidd. "I called his shoes concrete boots for about the last month," Jackson said to ESPNLosAngeles.com. "Those shoes look like they're made for the Hudson River." Jackson added that the shoes affect his play. "He stays with them and he gets his feet worked on but he does not move really quickly," he said to ESPNLosAngeles.com. "He looks like he's clogging around out there."

- Jason