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ORLANDO -- Stephanie Fisher thought it was just another internet scam when she signed up to follow Dwight Howard on Twitter (@DwightHoward) two months ago, and up popped a message saying she was a lucky prize winner.

Yeah, right, she thought.

The message said she was Howard's one millionth follower, which meant she had won a trip for two to Orlando to meet the Magic star and watch the opening game Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers.

"I didn't believe it at all,'' she said after the game. "So I just ignored it at first.''

Ron Artest has never been afraid to tell it like he sees it, especially while being one of the athletes who chooses to interact with his fans through the use of social media. He's taken it places it didn't even need to go, really: like giving out his cell phone number, or ripping his former team over a contract issue that didn't even make any sense.

For a lot of fans, the unfiltered access is awesome; a way to truly see into the lives of one of their favorite players. But the direct contact might not be all it's cracked up to be -- especially in the case of one blogger, who unintentionally found himself on the wrong side of Artest's outgoing personality.

NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.

After adding notoriously shot-happy veterans like Zach Randolph and Allen Iverson to a young core that includes Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley, how will Lionel Hollins keep everybody happy at the same time? Apparently by telling them it's every man for himself.

Let's get right to it. We asked for your Twitter questions and got some. Now for some answers:

jesiree: Since there are so many NBA players who tweet, how do they feel about new social media rules?
There have been virtually no complaints about the new policy regarding social media and Twitter. By and large, players don't have a problem with them and shouldn't. All the league is asking from the players at this point is to refrain from using Twitter and the like during games.

Players can't use cell phones or communication devices from 45 minutes before a game until their responsibilities with the team are completed afterward. Most seem to agree this is an even-handed and fair guideline.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

There are many basketball stars in the NBA, but few have a connection to fans like Lakers forward Ron Artest. He goes above and beyond to give back. In this FanHouse video, we catch up with Ron-Ron and 50 lucky fans who won a Twitter contest and got to bowl with Ron.

Check out the video after the jump.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

NBA star Ron Artest was among the 16,000 fans who came out to the Staples Center to watch the Vitali Klitschko vs. Cris Arreola fight on Saturday night. In this video we talk to Ron before and after the fight to get his take; we also ask him about Lebron James, Lamar Odom's wedding and Kobe Bryant.

Check out the video after the jump.

ESPN's Marc Stein reports that the coming NBA Twitter policy will be less stringent than the guidelines NFL commissioner Roger Goodell enacted in his league. The main thrust of the NBA's policy will be extending the "criticism of officials" to social media, which means players and coaches can get fined for tweeting something like "these rplcment refs r tha suxxors, amirite????."

Teams will also reportedly be allowed to adjust their own social media guidelines, which of course means Bulls and Spurs will have to immediately delete all their social media accounts, while the Mavericks and Knicks will be allowed to update their Match.com profiles from the huddle. One assumes the league policy will go up in smoke during All-Star Weekend, and I'm really eager to see how someone incorporates a Facebook status update into their dunk contest attempt. (By "really eager" I mean "the complete opposite of eager.")

Let's get right to it. We asked for your Twitter questions and we got them. Now for some answers:

albert_kim: Is Rashad McCants going to be a good fit in Houston?
I don't think Rashad McCants is necessarily a good fit for any team. We're talking about a colossal headcase here. However, if he's going to be effective for any team it would likely be a team with established veterans, an established style of play and a veteran head coach who is pretty good at dealing with players such as McCants.

To that extent, the Rockets might be less worse of a fit for McCants than many other teams. Coach Rick Adelman is one of the best when it comes to handling players who aren't easy to coach, whether it be Rod Strickland from back in the day or Ron Artest recently.

Let's get right to it. We asked for your Twitter questions and we got them. Now for some answers:

BHOGUE34: Who is the sleeper team this season?
I'll give you two, one in each conference: the L.A. Clippers in the West and the Toronto Raptors in the East.

The Clippers have had a nice offseason, drafting Blake Griffin and unloading Zach Randolph. Now, all they need is for Baron Davis to have the kind of season he had in Golden State two years ago or like he had a few years before that in New Orleans.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

This has been an amazing summer for NBA star Ron Artest, who in a relatively short time has taken over Los Angeles. Ron-Ron has caused many Lakers fans to fall in love with the defensive specialist by being himself -- chatting with fans, handing out his phone number and getting involved in the community. In this FanHouse exclusive, we catch up with Ron at a press conference for boxing stars Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, where we talk to him about basketball, boxing, charity work and even making a mean sandwich.

Check out the video after the jump.