Last Friday it was announced that Lakers forward Ron Artest had officially changed his name to Metta World Peace. Artest had been contemplating this name change for three years before finally drawing the motivation to do so from Chad Ochocinco of the New England Patriots.
Let us take a look back at the player that was Ron Artest and is now Metta World Peace.
ARTEST VS ARIZA
The Lakers acquired Ron Artest via free agency on July 2, 2009. Many fans criticized the signing because of how effective Ariza was down the stretch for the Lakers in the 2008-09 season. However, after losing to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals, the Lakers felt they needed more of a defensive presence. This held to be true as the Lakers would win the 2010 NBA title.
Here is a look at both players just after they swapped teams:
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu1zMV5j0fo
ARTEST DEFEATS SUNS AT BUZZER
Just when it seemed like the Lakers and Suns would be heading to overtime in Game 5 of the 2010 Western Conference Finals, Ron Artest would quickly rebound a Kobe Bryant missed field goal and rapidly put it back in the hoop at the buzzer to give the Lakers a 3-2 series lead.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MThR2YyW7j8
ARTEST VS PIERCE
To quote the broadcast, “it took 27 seconds for these two to go at it.” Ron Artest never backed down from any player who tried to get in his face. Artest earned the reputation as a hard-nosed yet dirty player. In this clip, he gets tangled up with Paul Pierce of the Celtics in Game 1 of the 2010 NBA Finals.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jbh_S246Fs
Next: Artest Tries Rapping; Takes on LeBron
ARTEST RELEASES RAP SONG
After winning the 2010 NBA Championship in seven games against the Boston Celtics, Artest wrote a rap song called “Champions.”
The song begins like this:
Moment of silence for the champions
For those who make goin’ hard a lifestyle
Never waver
Nothing, gotta get it right now
I’m in the spotlight
When they turn the lights down
Only a champ swings the hardest in the 12th round
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2kZ0S7gfw
ARTEST VS LEBRON
Yet again, Artest does not back down. Ron Ron gets into it with LeBron James in this clip from Christmas of 2010. The Lakers had earned a reputation as a team that wasn’t very tough, but Artest proved to be an enforcer for L.A.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3fg6ZbobZw
ARTEST VS BAREA
Does it surprise you that the last notable memory that Laker fans will have of Ron Artest is this moment that occurred with 24.4 seconds in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The frustration of the team was evident through the actions of Artest, who “clothes-lined” J.J. Barea as the Mavericks inbounded the ball.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZSje5VO83U
ARTEST, “THE SHOW”
All-in-all, Artest is about grabbing the attention. In this clip, Artest follows a Shannon Brown reverse dunk with one of his own.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz2T_BycGYk
Next: Becoming Metta World Peace
The man we knew as Ron Artest was a player who never backed down from the challenge of another player. He has tangled with the likes of Paul Pierce and LeBron James and even lesser-known guys like J.J. Barea.
However, say what you must, it was that mental toughness that instilled a sense of fear into opposing teams. Artest’s presence allowed for the Lakers to better contain star players on opposing teams.
Artest played in every game in 2011, but saw his scoring average fall to 8.5 points per game. That can be attributed to the sharp drop in his field goal percentage, which plunged to 39% That is just a tad bit over two percentage points under his career average. It is also the lowest field-goal percentage he’s had since his first season with Sacramento in 2005-06.
What does Metta World Peace hold in store for the fans? Will he provide a different persona from that of Ron Artest? Not likely. Did Chad Johnson become somebody different when he became Chad Ochocinco?
Metta World Peace is 31 years old and will play for a Laker team that is championship-ready. World Peace also has a new coach who is a defensive specialist. That can only work out in his favor.
However, if not, World Peace can take a back seat to the usually reliable Lamar Odom, who has been outstanding as the Lakers’ sixth-man. World Peace will be a tremendous defensive presence for the Lakers, who will continue to use him to stop superstars such as Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
So can we expect any further changes? Perhaps World Peace will change for the better. After all, Metta is a Buddhist term meaning: a strong wish for the happiness of others.
Hopefully this strong wish for happiness is for others such as Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher and the rest of the 2011-12 Los Angeles Lakers organization.