HoopsHype.com Rumors

Metta World Peace: If I was mike brown I would bench Metta world peace and bring in Ron Artest Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Mike Brown, Metta World Peace 

Metta World Peace: If I was mike brown I would bench Ron artest and cut Metta world peace Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Mike Brown, Metta World Peace 

John Green (the fan who lobbed a drink at Artest): I never intended to hit anyone. The day I threw the cup I forgot about the laws of physics. I hope that no one ever throws anything at The Palace again.11 Grantland

Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Metta World Peace 

Ron Artest (forward, Pacers): I was lying down when I got hit with a liquid — ice and glass on my chest and on my face. After that, it was self- defense.12 Grantland

Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Metta World Peace 

Michael Ryan (fan): [Artest] was on top of me, pummeling me. He asked me, "Did you do it?" I said, "No, man. No!"14 Grantland

Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Metta World Peace 

Montieth: [Artest] got hit from behind by Ben Wallace's brother, if I remember right. And he threw that halfhearted punch. Grantland

Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Ben Wallace, Metta World Peace 

David Wallace (Ben Wallace's brother): I just got caught up in the heat of the moment. When you don't have time to think about something, there's not always a thought process involved.15 Grantland

Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Ben Wallace, Metta World Peace 

Jackson: After we calmed down, [Artest] looked at me like, "Jack, you think we going to get in trouble?" Jamaal Tinsley fell out laughing. I said, "Are you serious, bro? Trouble? Ron, we'll be lucky if we have a freaking job." That lets me know he wasn't in his right mind, to ask that question. Grantland

Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Metta World Peace 

Pollard: That's 100 percent true. We laughed our asses off about that. "Yeah, Ron. Yeah, there are going to be some problems, buddy. You hit a fan." I couldn't believe it. He was in shock that what he had just done was bad. I don't know what his mentality is like on the inside, but outside looking in, you can sit there and say, "Wow. That's trippy that somebody can go through that type of experience and wonder if there's going to be repercussions." Grantland

Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Scot Pollard, Metta World Peace 

Daniel Artest (Ron Artest's brother): I talked to Ron like 10 minutes after everything happened. It was just like a regular conversation. He said, "They threw something at me, so I went into the stands and handled it." The way we were talking, he didn't think the league was going to come down hard on him. We thought he would probably miss some games, like five games at the most. Grantland

Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Metta World Peace 

Bruce Arthur: Someone courtside at the Palace that night once told me Artest provoked Ben Wallace by saying,"Lick my balls, defensive player of the year." Twitter

Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Ben Wallace, Metta World Peace 

Bruce Arthur: I asked Ron about it when he came to town this month; he denied it, then said he didn't remember. Twitter

Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Ben Wallace, Metta World Peace 

It appeared a double-digit Lakers victory Monday over Portland was all but inevitable. That is until the Trail Blazers adopted a "Hack-a-Metta" strategy, in the hope Metta World Peace's 51.1% mark at the free-throw line would work in their favor. Instead, World Peace's six points in the Lakers 103-92 victory came mostly came from hitting four of six shots at the stripe. He was one for four from the field. "It never happened, but that was awesome," World Peace said. "I wasn't planning on scoring no more in that game. I was planning on just playing defense and passing the ball. I was cool with two points, but they gave me six. I'm like, cool. I got six points today. I'm very happy about that." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Metta World Peace 

Metta World Peace: I trust my presence on the floor is bigger than most. I can score no points and still be more effective than your favorite player!! Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Metta World Peace 

Twenty-four hours earlier, Bryant had gone to World Peace and told him simply, Whatever you’ve become, we need the relentless, old Ron Artest. “You’ve got to be you,” Bryant told him. “You’re a feisty [expletive] out on that court.” Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Metta World Peace 

Ken Berger: Also, I received permission tonight from Metta World Peace to refer to him by his given name. "You're from New York," Ron Artest said. Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Metta World Peace 

Kevin Ding: Brown has talked to @Ron Artest about being a leader for the bench unit. So odds are @Matt Barnes is starting SF. Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Matt Barnes 

At the Lakers' media day on Monday, Melissa Rohlin of the L.A. Times asked the basketball player formerly known as Ron Artest if the fact that the rookies were calling him Metta and the veterans were calling him Ron was had anything to do with hazing. He responded: Well, I'm just happy that Jesus Christ, um, did not let me lose my teeth when I was 20 years old. 'Cause I was wondering, like, what if you kept your baby teeth until the age of 18 or 20, and then you lose 'em? That would look pretty bad. So I just think he's really brilliant that you lose your teeth when you're a baby rather than you lose them when you're, like, 30 or 20. That has nothing to do with your question, but that was definitely on my mind. Deadspin.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest 

I was, um, just thinking about it. And I was just like, wow, what if I lost my teeth, like, today? And I'm 32. You know? And then my new teeth would grow back in. You know? I was just thinking about that. And I was like, that's really pretty brilliant; he actually thought about like people's image and, you know, persona and things like that. 'Cause you would be pretty ugly with no teeth at the age of 20, 18, you know? So not only did he build the world in seven days, seven nights, he also said, OK, let them lose their teeth early, rather than late. Deadspin.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest 

Ron Artest has been an NBA All-Star, Defensive Player of the Year and, most recently, a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. But since mid-September, he hasn't been Ron Artest—officially changing his name to Metta World Peace. But you'd never have known about the name change prior to this week on NBA.com or the Lakers website. But Tuesday, the Lakers quietly replaced Artest's old name with his new one and the NBA made the change as well. His jersey this season will also bear the 6-foot-7 forward's new name. "It will read 'World Peace,'" Lakers spokesman John Black said. Wall Street Journal

Los Angeles Lakers, Ron Artest, Metta World Peace