You’ve got good taste in Mei-Ling Lam, our Miss June 2011. She’s half Asian – born to a Chinese restaurateur and a French Canadian – and all natural, with long, dark hair and soft brown eyes. “I grew up in small-town Maine,” she says, “and when I was younger, I competed in a few state beauty pageants. I won Miss Teen Maine in 2001, and later I competed in Miss Teen USA.” She may have worn a tiara, but don’t take her for a princess – Mei-Ling is a huge Boston Celtics fan, spends hours watching ESPN, and she would sooner die than miss a game with the Big Three.

She also loves video games – Gran Turismo and any other game she can get her hands on – and has to be careful not to treat the stick shift in her Mercedes like a joystick. And it’s not all fun and games, either – she’s an entrepreneur with a restaurant and a tea house to her name. “I’d like to use my money and status as Playmate to start a new business,” she says. “I could do another restaurant, but I want to try something new.” Mei-Ling did some test shots with her friend – a fashion photographer – and he submitted them on her behalf. With her parents’ permission, she flew to Los Angeles for two more tests, and the third time was the charm – Hef approved her Centerfold and we made her Miss June. “It was my first time posing nude,” she says, “but I wasn’t nervous. I had modeled before, and I had to change my clothes in front of other people. It’s not that much different.” These days, Mei-Ling lives in Atlanta, Georgia with Ken Oxendine, new husband and former running back for the Falcons – but she makes regular visits to the Mansion, and Hef saves a seat for her at Movie Night. For more of the delectable Mei-Ling Lam, check out her Playground column, Dinner With Mei-Ling.

Reeling off Mei-Ling Lam’s passions is a slam dunk. They begin and end with her beloved Boston Celtics. “Kevin Garnett is my favorite player, but I also love Paul Pierce and Ray Allen,” our 27-year-old Miss June says about the team’s trio of stars, dubbed the Big Three. “Truthfully, though, I love the Celtics, period, because there’s nothing like them and their fans. The atmosphere is absolutely electric during games. Even when they’re playing the worst team in the league, their fans are bonkers. I know I am – especially when the refs make a bad call. It drives me crazy!” Mei-Ling, the daughter of a Chinese restaurateur father and a French Canadian mother, got hooked on the Celtics as a kid when her older brother would routinely drive her from their Clinton, Maine home down to the TD Garden in Boston. In those days her love of the Celtics was rivaled only by her fervor for beauty pageants.

“I lived, breathed and ate pageants,” the 2001 Miss Maine Teen USA says. “I adored the dresses and getting all dolled up.” As for posing for Playboy, Mei-Ling is merely doing what comes naturally. “The truth is that during my pageant days I was always running around naked backstage because of how quickly the wardrobe changes took place. So as crazy as it sounds, I never felt naked when I was shooting my pictorial. In fact, I loved it. I’m simply celebrating womanhood and embracing how comfortable I feel in my own skin.” Then, as if Ray Allen had just made a victorious buzzer-beating three-pointer, she exclaims, “I’m so excited about my future!”