Metta World Peace On Name: “It’s Pretty Much Self-Explanatory”

If you’ve ever had the chance to talk with Ron Artest or Metta World Peace, you’re in for a treat. Always the most interesting man in the locker room, you know you’re going to get a real answer instead of a rehearsed one. But for some reason, the Lakers swingman has been mum on the reasoning behind his name change, until now.

From Sports Radio Interviews:

“A lot of people ask me that. … It’s a question that I really don’t need to answer. If you look at what’s happening in the world, it’s pretty much self-explanatory. I think it’s something that was cool. I am a different type of person. I like to do things different and I always like to have fun. I like to entertain. At the same time, anytime I get a chance to get a good message across, I do that. I think it’s good for kids to see that all the stuff they see on the news that’s going on internationally, that people do want to change.”

Change seems to be the operative word for World Peace this season. Not only on the back of his jersey, but with his role on the Lakers. Mike Brown decided to bring him off the bench and have him lead the second unit after starting all 82 games in L.A. last season. In fact, until this year, World Peace had started every regular season game he played in since arriving in 2009. With the Lakers off to a 2-2 start, it’s going to be an uphill battle all season.

“I think we’ve just got to work hard,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of hard work and nothing’s going to be given to us. For the most part, it’s like starting from square one.”

What do you think?

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