Metta World Peace makes surprising admission about James Harden elbow incident

Metta World Peace putting an elbow into James Harden’s skull is one of the most infamous moments of the last decade in the NBA. Now World Peace is making a pretty surprising admission about the incident.

The retired former Defensive Player of the Year spoke recently with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson of Bally Sports. World Peace addressed his 2012 elbow of Harden and said that it was never intended for the bearded guard.

“It wasn’t meant for James,” said World Peace. “I didn’t even know who was behind me. I just felt someone push me. I didn’t know who it was. It was very unfortunate.”

The incident occurred back in 2012 when World Peace’s Los Angeles Lakers were playing Harden and the Oklahoma City Thunder. World Peace got too fired up after a fastbreak dunk and threw a wild elbow that connected full-on with Harden’s head. Harden suffered a concussion from the shot, and World Peace was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected. The NBA then suspended World Peace for an additional seven games.

World Peace did not sound particularly apologetic at the time. But now that he has had some time to reflect over the last nine years, World Peace is taking on a much more conciliatory tone.