Metta World Peace sure has a way with words. His unbridled vocabulary was on full display recently when he declared Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James as the GOAT, while also comparing him to extra-terrestrials. World Peace took to Twitter to make his bold claim: @KingJames is the goat. Never thought I would say that over my brother 24 and my favorite mj. I was an Allstar in mj Jersey 23. I changed my number for one season to honor a legend. But the King is the greatest athlete to ever touch this galaxy. Better than the aliens too
Metta World Peace Rumors
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Metta World Peace
Position: -
Born: 11/13/79
Height: 6-7 / 2.01
Weight:246 lbs. / 111.6 kg.
Earnings: $85,031,186 ($104,043,647*)
Born: 11/13/79
Height: 6-7 / 2.01
Weight:246 lbs. / 111.6 kg.
Earnings: $85,031,186 ($104,043,647*)
ESPN Stats & Info: The Lakers win Game 2 of the WCF 105-103 on an Anthony Davis buzzer-beating 3. That was Davis’ 2nd career game-winning buzzer-beater, 1st in his playoff career. It was the 1st Lakers game-winning buzzer-beater in the playoffs since Metta World Peace in 2010
That $42 million contract extension he was given by the Pacers in 2002, maybe it wasn’t worth it for the team. Maybe Indiana Pacers President Donnie Walsh, who spent hours in deep conversation with Artest, nurturing and comforting him through difficult times, should have given up on him. Maybe Walsh should have gotten another player, one who wouldn’t snap and erupt into violent outbursts. “They did have a special player, but the player they had wasn’t stable as a pro basketball player,” Metta Saniford-Artest (who changed his name from Metta World Peace in May after marrying Maya Sandiford) told IndyStar Wednesday. “In terms of talent they definitely got it right (with me). But I felt bad, wish it would have been someone else they had gotten so they could have won a title.”
To anyone else, peeking into Sandiford-Artest’s world in 2002, the words were ones NBA dreams are made of. Walsh looked at Sandiford-Artest, who was in his first season with the team, and told him he would do anything to keep him. “I remember Donnie Walsh telling me he wanted to give me the maximum dollar,” he said. “‘What any team wants for you, we are going to match it.'”Exhilaration didn’t follow. Instead, Sandiford-Artest felt disbelief. And then worse. “I actually panicked,” he said. “At that time, I was like, ‘Are you (expletive) kidding me?’ Sometimes, things cause you to self destruct, certain things.”
The gym meant assistant Chuck Person and Larry Bird were around. He spent more time with them than any player on the team. And the most with Bird, who became Pacers president in 2003, who was always there for him, he said. “Larry Bird, he was a great human,” Sandiford-Artest said. “He is such a great human, even outside of his career.” Those years with the Pacers were bittersweet ones for Sandiford-Artest. “When it comes to my best, it was Indiana,” he said. “It was the only time I was on the trajectory to go to the Hall of Fame.”
Day to day on the asphalt, there were no refs, criminals lurked in the shadows (often providing grease for shorts and sneakers) and creative showboating was de rigueur. The setting served as a breeding ground for world-class NBA stars. They included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor), Julius “Dr. J” Erving and Metta World Peace (then known as Ron Artest). Former Knicks great Walt “Clyde” Frazier, who grew up in Atlanta, took his talent to at least one of New York’s wildly competitive outdoor courts while a pro. He likened the experience to “being a gunslinger in the Old West.”
Kendrick Perkins also appeared on the Scoop B Radio Podcast this week. He disagrees with World Peace’s assessment comparison. “I love Metta World Peace, that’s my guy but there’s no comparison to Anthony Davis,” Perkins told Scoop B Radio. “He’s a guy that we’ve never seen before. He’s one of one. He’s a generational talent. In my opinion, the closest guy that I’ve seen to Anthony Davis was Kevin Garnett when you look at the whole body of work that they both can do; their handles, their passing ability, their shot blocking, the way they defend they can switch from 1 through 5, they rebound at a high level. It’s no limitations on their game really. Offensively they both can shoot the 3. They both had post moves. KG had post moves. AD has post moves. KG could push the rock. AD could push the rock. But, AD is one of one man. He’s a generational talent.”
