Now that Lakers’ season has finally ended in a fiery train-wreck of a spectacle, the obligatory finger pointing can officially begin. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are sure to see their fare share of blame. Even Kobe Bryant, with his “no free handouts” performance in Game 4, shouldn’t be immune to criticism.

Mike Brown, deservedly or not, is likely to face a great deal of heat, too, obviously. After all, he’s the one who’s apparently had hardly any favor from his locker room in this his first season. But leave it to Metta World Peace, ever the diplomat, to diffuse any backlash against his embattled coach and also provide us with our quote of the day. Here’s what he said about Brown on Tuesday, according to the L.A. Times’ Mark Medina:

“It was a drastic change and took getting used to. But at the same time, we should still be up 3-2. Mike wasn’t out there guarding Kevin. That was me. Mike didn’t miss three point shot. I missed it. Mike didn’t come in out of shape. Wait, he did come in out of shape. Mike is a fat a**.”

Of course it’s Metta keeping the mood light in a somber time. His defense might not be what it used to be, but at least his comic relief is on point! As for Brown, being called names for his weight is the least of his concerns this summer. It’s going to be a fun Lakers offseason.

H/T Pro Basketball Talk
Photo credit: Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

On Wednesday night after the Lakers melted down and lost Game 2 to the Thunder, a humorous screenshot began circulating around the Twitter world. It appeared as though Chicago’s ABC affiliate channel had enough of all the elbowing and talk about Oklahoma City’s women being naturally beautiful, so they decided to refer to Metta World Peace as the “Lakers Idiot.” Busted Coverage pointed out that the screenshot could have been an easy photoshop job if someone felt like creating a buzz, but it turns out the photo was legit.

The screenshot you see above came from a video that Deadspin dug up, which proves that the ABC station did in fact briefly flash a graphic that described World Peace as “Lakers Idiot.” Well played, graphic technicians. Well played indeed.

If you tuned into Game 1 between the Lakers and Thunder on Monday night, you may have noticed that the Oklahoma City fans are not fond of the artist formerly known as Ron Artest. As payback for the elbow he dropped on James Harden during the regular season, the fans booed Metta World Peace throughout the entire game. Depsite the boos, Metta has no problem with the fans — particularly the women of Oklahoma City.

“I didn’t realize that Oklahoma has so many, like, fine women,” World Peace said according to The Oklahoman. “I felt really comfortable. I hit my first two shots. It was mainly because of how beautiful the women were. You don’t need makeup to be beautiful. That’s the American way of telling a woman she’s beautiful. She can be beautiful without makeup. And that’s what I’ve seen in Oklahoma City.”

Perhaps the blowout loss offset the great mood the OKC women had him in, because Artest decided to take Harden down again using his elbow late in the game. However, that is one heck of a compliment coming from a guy who is used to playing in Los Angeles. Expect World Peace to be showered with cheers before and during Game 2.

Photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE