Ron Artest has been known as one of the better defensive players in the NBA throughout most of his career. Teams bring in Artest — oops, Metta World Peace — to prevent points, not score them. World Peace almost always draws the assignment of defending an opponent’s best offensive player, but this year his defense has slipped a bit. Some say it’s simply age taking its course, but World Peace has a more interesting theory.
“The defense, I got to bring it back,” World Peace said Thursday according to ESPNLosAngeles.com. “I got bored with defense because it was so easy for me to stop people over the years. I got real bored with it. When you’re playing against guys and you’re stopping guys every single time, what else are you going to do (but get bored)? It caught up to me, but this year I’m doing better. This year I’m almost back to where I want to be.”
Hate when that happens. You would think the Lakers’ mediocre 11-8 record would keep him somewhat interested, and perhaps it has. World Peace played well defensively during a 96-91 victory over the Clippers Wednesday night. As far as getting bored is concerned, World Peace’s teammates aren’t upset with him. In fact, Kobe Bryant can relate.
“That’s happened to me before as well,” Bryant said. “That’s human nature sometimes. You have to have (and) you have to find challenges that kind of get you going and keep your energy. ”
World Peace said that some of the Clippers were talking trash during Wednesday’s game, which woke him up. The bottom line is the Lakers aren’t exactly breezing through the Western Conference. If they want to make another run in the postseason this year, they’ll have to do their best to limit the boredom. Maybe giving World Peace a Red Bull or something before the game would help.
