definitely NOT your typical made up SOB name... but i guess they couldn't figure out how to spell Wilda Beast
Posted on 04/25/2012 12:50:21 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Metta World Peace harmed much more than his own tattered reputation when he viciously elbowed Oklahoma City’s James Harden in the head.
The Los Angeles Lakers troublemaker also deprived his team of his services as their starting small forward and defensive stopper for at least six playoff games while he serves his 10th suspension in the past decade.
The NBA suspended World Peace for seven games on Tuesday for the inexplicable blow that gave Harden a concussion, keeping the former Ron Artest sidelined for most of the first postseason round.
World Peace was ejected from Sunday’s game against the Thunder for striking Oklahoma City’s top reserve. He claimed the blow was an accidental, overzealous celebration of a dunk, yet even Kobe Bryant and his Lakers teammates weren’t defending his inexplicable actions.
“It’s hard to get into a guy’s head and know exactly what happened in that situation,” Bryant said. “I haven’t really spoken to him about it. You’ve really got to ask him.”
World Peace will miss the Lakers’ season finale on Thursday at Sacramento and the Lakers’ next six games. The playoffs open Saturday, and Los Angeles is likely to be the Western Conference’s third seed — and Oklahoma City is locked into the No. 2 seed, meaning the clubs could meet right after World Peace’s suspension ends in the second round.
He will lose nearly $348,000 in salary if he serves the entire suspension this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
Hold on, I don’t follow major league sports but Metta World Peace was Ron Artest, seriously?
The truth is much stranger than fiction.
Considering Artest’s track record in the NBA, he should have been permanently expelled from the NBA.
What does it say about the NBA, its fans, or the media covering the league that this individual has received 5, 10 or even 20 times the coverage of a Tim Duncan?
Yep. Better than the Fakers.
The Thunder is the 2nd best team in the NBA.
Right behind my hometown Spurs!
~Go Spurs Go!~
I won’t/can’t argue if it was deliberate or not. He was acting as a dangerous “Thug”.
He should be out of the NBA, but I’ve heard several commentators say that the commissioner won’t do it because of the Player’s Union - they would not allow that to stand.
If I were a player (no chance in $%#&), would I want to play against (or with for that matter) a Thug like that?
ML/NJ
Visualize Ron Artest.
I can see why Ron Artest changed his name to Metta World Peace.
Can you imagine the shame and humiliation he had to endure for years going through life with a white boy’s name?
Hard to live up to your bad-a$$ punk reputation with a name that sounds more like it belongs to a middle class white suburban insurance agent from Plano, TX.
Stern won’t do it because he’s a sissy. If the PA objected he could just tell them to go explain it to Harden who’s still out with the concussion he got.
As a football fan I always have to scoff at the “discipline” of other leagues. In the NFL there are 5 suspensions you’ll generally see: 1 game (remember they have a 16 game season), 2 games, 1/4 season, half season, and whole season. If you work the math an NBA game in a normals season is 1/5 as much of the season as an NFL game, yet NBA players usually get suspended for 2 to 4 games, not even 1 NFL games equivalent. This 7 games for Artest is about a game and a half. A post whistle shot like that in the NFL is a 4 gamer minimum, 1/4 of the season. At least the NHL finally got one right when they suspended Raffi Torres for 25 games (functionally the rest of the playoffs even if the Yotes go all the way to the Cup). And don’t even get me started on MLB where pitchers get “suspended” for fewer games than the rotation.
Bingo. I saw the replay several times with a neighbor who refs HS and college basketball games said the same thing. No mas NBA for artest, period - end of conversation.
This is why they call it thug-ball.
Agreed but given the NBA's need to avoid too much effect upon the play-offs, a more fair ruling would be AT LEAST 7 games AFTER his victim is medically cleared to play again. That would divide it between reimbursement and putative punishment.
definitely NOT your typical made up SOB name... but i guess they couldn't figure out how to spell Wilda Beast
7 games? I can do that standing on my head! Pathetic...
LOL! Shows you how in tune I am with pro basketball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkvepCon4tg
Metta World Peace elbows James Harden!: Thunder @ Lakers
Go Spurs! Go Rangers!
“Try and imagine if Whirled Peas were white and beat down a black man like that.”
You mean like the riots that occurred when Marty McSorley (white guy) slammed a hockey stick on Donald Brashear’s (black guy) head during a hockey game?
Ya know, I would definitely want to play against him. A few hip checks, and maybe a “blocking” foul when he is in the air might change his perspective.
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