Metta is a traditional Buddhist word that means loving kindness
and friendliness towards all.Metta World Peace didn’t exactly exhibit
this behavior in the Lakers game this past Sunday. Late in the first half,
World Peace swung his elbow at the neck of James Harden of the OKC Thunder,causing a concussion.
Even though World Peace claims that the blow was a mistake and he was simply “celebrating." But acting like he wanted to fight afterwards didn’t seem to help his case at
all. World Peace, previously known as Ron Artest is no stranger to confrontations
on the court.
Everyone got a bit of a flashback to the ’04 Pistons/Pacers
brawl which was the beginning of World Peaces troubles on the court. Initially
the elbow swing seemed inadvertently, but after watching the replay a few times
it seemed like World Peace cocked his elbow back AND followed through, which probably
played a huge part in the decision to give him a 7 game suspension.
Since the brawl in 2004,it seemed as though Artest had
matured and grown as a player who was more aware of his surroundings. Due to
his carelessness, the Lakers will be missing a huge piece of the puzzle come
the playoffs. With only one game left in the regular season, it looks as if
World Peace wont be able to play until the 7th game of the 1st
round (if there is one) or the 2nd round of the playoffs. The Lakers
are working against the grain this post season, with a new head coach,an aging
Kobe, and sporadic playing from Bynum.
I must of watched the replay of this event over 100 times already and I'm still indecisive as to whether Peace swung at Harden intentionally or if it was inadvertent. From what I saw, he did not know who was behind him when he bumped into Harden and he swung his elbow to shove the player off of him after they bumped into one another. It also seems as if Peace was just trying to elbow the shoulder of who he thought was behind him. I felt as if Peace thought it was Ibaka behind him because he dunked on him and he wanted him to get off of him so he swung the elbow to hit Ibaka's shoulder, but it turned out to be Harden. As for the suspension, I think he deserves a minimum five game suspension in the post season. But I also would understand a 20 game suspension for the first 20 games of next season without pay.
ReplyDeleteI can't even defend Metta man.
ReplyDeleteThe elbow was not that vicious to me, because if that would have been in his chest or arm instead of his head he would have been fine.
I also wouldn't be surprised to learn that Harden overexaggerated a bit.
I think Metta just had a flashback to his Ron days because he was just so hype and so into the game, which was one of the biggest of the year, and he was playing great, as he has of late.
So I think he just got caught up in it all and lost it a bit, as was seen by his willingness to fight serge ibaka afterwards.
But I do not think it is anything to worry about, and I cannot wait for him to get back. He will probably come back for the OKC series, and will have something to prove.
I believe in Metta. And World Peace!