Like father, not so much like son. Metta World Peace is using something of an unusual parenting technique, rooting against his son Ron Artest III during his high school basketball games.
Artest, who plays for Beverly Hills High School, just picked up a major win against rival Crossroads Academy, but in an interview with TMZ, World Peace revealed that he was cheering for Crossroads star Shareef O’Neal (son of Shaquille) rather than his own child. Artest gets back at his Dad by supporting one his NBA rivals:
First and foremost, this is just another example of Metta being Metta. He marches to the beat of his own drum, so it’s not that big of a surprise to that he’s cheering for a friend at the expense of his own son. However, it is funny that Artest gets back at his dad by supporting LeBron James. As a Laker, one would expect World Peace’s son to support the purple and gold, but if World Peace can root for other players, one can’t really fault Artest for doing the same.
Considering James’ status at the top of the NBA, it’s not shocking that Artest would admire him, especially since his father is spending most games glued to the Lakers’ bench, appearing in just 17 games so far this season, mostly in garbage time. Still, World Peace has made an impressive transformation over the course of his career, moving past a reputation as a trouble-maker following the infamous “Malice at the Palace” and turning himself into one of the league’s upstanding citizens.
Today, World Peace’s contributions to the Lakers comes primarily in the form of mentoring the team’s young players rather than his play on the court. Despite Artest’s support for James, one has to imagine that, all joking aside, he’s also a big fan of dear old Dad.
