Before he signed a training camp contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, Metta World Peace was constantly at the team’s training facility working with prized forward Julius Randle.
World Peace used his years of experience to help out the young Randle over the summer and get him in the best shape possible for the upcoming season.
As it turns out, World Peace enjoys teaching and revealed in an interview with Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that he has a serious interest in coaching:
“I want to coach one day. I definitely have interest in coaching. But I want people to know I’m staying in tip top shape. Just because I want to coach doesn’t mean I’m retiring […] My goal is one day to be a head coach for a couple of years. I don’t want a 20-year coaching career. Maybe 5 or 10 years. I want to win a championship.”
While he obviously would love to be in the NBA from day one, World Peace says he isn’t afraid to work his way up from the D-League or start as an assistant coach:
“If a head coaching job is available and they’d offer it, absolutely. We’ll look at it. If another thing opened up, we’ll definitely look at it. I’m not afraid of doing this. I’m totally not afraid of it […] I’m not afraid to take on any head coaching job. I’m very very confident. I’m very confident.”
It wasn’t too long ago that World Peace was out of the NBA, but he returned this year and has played surprisingly well for the Lakers. His intelligence has served him well this season and he wants to impart that on the younger players which could work.
A few years ago, nobody would ever expect that World Peace could be a coach in the NBA, but now it doesn’t seem like too far-fetched of an idea and World Peace roaming the sidelines of an NBA team could be a possibility.