Larry Brown Sports

The Lakers moved on to face the Thunder after beating the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs, but don’t expect too many hugs and kisses to be exchanged between the squads. Monday’s Thunder-Lakers game will mark the first time Metta World Peace faces James Harden since giving him a concussion with an elbow to the head last month. World Peace was asked after Saturday’s Game 7 win if he plans to shake Harden’s hand, and he didn’t exactly offer an olive branch.

Metta on whether he’ll shake James Harden’s hand: “I don’t shake subs hands.” Fair enough.

— chris palmer (@ESPNChrisPalmer) May 13, 2012

Oh yeah, it is on. Even though it’s just a second round series, this will feel like an NBA Finals matchup. I have the Thunder winning it, hopefully in less than seven for their sake.

Oh Ron, Metta, whatever your name is. This is what we were missing with you gone the last seven games.

We already knew that Ron is from Queensbridge considering he’s shouted out his home city several times in past interviews, but he did it in an especially humorous manner this time. It’s like his amount of crazy is directly related to how awesome he is in interviews.

Thanks to Eye on Basketball for sharing the video.

Metta World Peace was suspended seven games by the NBA for his elbow to the head of James Harden last Sunday. The player formerly known as Ron Artest apologized after the game and said the elbow was “unintentional.” Commissioner David Stern termed it “reckless,” and Metta even said it was “brutal.”

But that doesn’t mean he thinks the public beating he’s taking for the concussion-inducing action is warranted. World Peace actually defended himself against some of the criticism he’s been receiving by sending a few tweets from his account on Wednesday.

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Almost as soon as Ron Artest changed his name last year, someone had to expect the headline was coming: “World Peace Suspended”. Now, taken out of context, this caption would probably cause folks in parts of North Korea and Sudan to jump for joy. However, those savvy individuals know that Kim Jong-un, Omar al-Bashir, and any other hyphenated world dictator probably would not merely use an elbow to subjugate the opposition.

It took about six months to decipher, but finally there can be a consensus on the meaning of Metta World Peace’s first name. Metta is a Buddhist term literally meaning: “Loving kindness to all, except when blunt force trauma caused by a flying elbow is necessary”. Presumably, a two-syllable word was a lot easier to use in place of the other 16 I used to encapsulate its made-up definition.

On Sunday, the Lakers forward delivered an elbow to the head of Oklahoma City guard James Harden, one the likes of which the world has not seen since Neville Chamberlain was elbowed aside by the whole of Europe during the 1930s. Harden suffered a concussion. Meanwhile, David Stern gave Peace a chance … to sit out 7 games.

In the past, name changes have been used for various purposes. Clark Kent became Superman because, well, the DMV frowns on having no last name and no one was buying Super Man as a legal moniker. Garth Brooks became Chris Gaines in country music’s first-ever existential crisis, or simply to sell more records. Chad Johnson played the Name Game when he became Chad Ochocinco in a vain attempt to corner the market on pro football fans who don’t speak Spanish very well. Ron Artest became Metta World Peace this past offseason, sending headline writers and those craving irony into an apoplectic fit.

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After the Lakers’ double-overtime victory over the Thunder on Sunday, Metta World Peace spoke to reporters about the elbow to James Harden‘s head for which he was ejected shortly before halftime.

“I just dunked on Durant and Ibaka and I got real emotional, real excited,” World Peace said. “It’s unfortunate James had to get hit with an unintentional elbow. I hope he’s OK. The Thunder, they’re playing for a championship this year, so I really hope he’s OK. I apologize to the Thunder and to James Harden. Such a great game, and it’s unfortunate so much emotion was going on at that time.”

Unintentional? Is there anybody besides Ndamukong Suh who seriously believes that was an unintentional elbow?

In case you missed what happened, here’s video of the incident:

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Now that Lamar Odom has finally cut ties with the Mavericks but will still be paid for the remainder of the season, he’s pretty much free to do whatever he wants. What would you do for the next few months if your boss paid you to stay away? Would you go on a long vacation? Sit around and do nothing? Get another job and double up on the money? Metta World Peace has an idea for Odom if he gets bored, but something tells me Lamar wouldn’t go for it.

“Maybe he can come back and be a ball boy and then next year, come play,” World Peace said Monday night according to ESPNLosAngeles.com. “That’s what he should do. He’d be the first ball boy in the NBA that can play. Come back; get the towels and next year, play. Why not? He should be a scout. Lamar should be a scout.”

Considering Odom is still fuming with the Lakers for trading him to Dallas, I doubt he’d want to come back and chase towels and basketballs around. At least World Peace paid Lamar a compliment and said he could be a good evaluator of talent by recommending he become a scout. Oh wait, he meant a scout like a boy scout.

“Lamar should just like for one month, just be a boy scout and wear the outfit,” the artist formerly known as Artest joked before adding that Odom could probably earn a Skittles merit badge. “Just have fun. You’re getting paid.”

World Peace then recommended Odom go find the biggest mountain in the world and hike it, so Lamar has plenty of suggestions to ponder. Between these comments, his suggestion for Jeremy Lin’s fashion makeover, and his thank you to Jesus for letting us lose our teeth at a young age, this could be my favorite Artest year yet.

H/T Game On!
Photo credit: Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

If Metta World Peace is telling the truth, the Lakers may have dodged a bullet last night before their win over the Blazers. Los Angeles beat Portland by a score of 103-96, and World Peace had one of his better games of the year as he scored 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor. Without him, you could argue that the Lakers may have lost. Considering World Peace says his car broke down just a couple hours before tip-off, it’s a good thing he made it to the Staples Center on time.

As you can see, the tweet was sent at 8:44 p.m. EST, which would be 5:44 p.m. on the west coast. The Lakers-Blazers game tipped off at approximately 7:30 p.m. PST, so World Peace’s car trouble came close to making him tardy to the party. Yes, I’m aware that somebody would have gone and picked him up, but it sounds better this way. By the way, you can’t just borrow someone’s muffler — right?

Photo Credit: Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE