He may have legally taken on the moniker “World Peace,” but his actions earlier this week were anything but peaceful.
The NBA player formerly known as Ron Artest (who now goes by the name Metta World Peace) was suspended yesterday for 7 games without pay, after delivering a dangerous elbow to the head of Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden last Sunday. Now, the Los Angeles Lakers will be without an integral member of their team just in time for the start of the playoffs this weekend.
After scoring against the Thunder during the 2nd quarter of Sunday’s game, World Peace was cheering his own shot when he hit Harden in the back of the head, knocking him down. Harden was on the floor for several minutes and did not return to the game after being diagnosed with a concussion. World Peace was immediately ejected and also did not return to the game.
“During that play I just dunked on (Kevin Durant) and (Serge) Ibaka, and I got really emotional and excited. It was unfortunate that James had to get hit with an unintentional elbow,” World Peace told reporters after the game. But the league was not at all forgiving.
“The concussion suffered by James Harden demonstrates the danger posed by violent acts of this kind, particularly when they are directed at the head area,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern while announcing the suspension. “We remain committed to taking necessary measures to protect the safety of NBA players, including the imposition of appropriate penalties for players with a history of on-court altercations.”
World Peace is no stranger to NBA suspensions. In 2004 when he was still known as Ron Artest and a member of the Indiana Pacers, he was responsible for a melee between players and fans at a Pacers-Pistons game after a fan threw a drink on him. For that incident, the NBA suspended Artest for 86 games.
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Last year was the first time I had followed the NBA games and that was only because I wanted to see how D.Wade, Lebron and Bosh were going to do playing on the same team.This year I haven't followed the NBA at all. But I did hear about this story and I saw the clip. It's an ugly and, quite frankly, painful thing to watch. Artest can go by any name he chooses but the truth is, UNLESS he gets some REAL help to learn how to better manage his emotions he's going to keep having the the SAME *problems* he's always had and that AIN'T good for him, his victims or the NBA.