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Carmelo Anthony played seven seasons for the Knicks, scored 10,186 points -- seventh on the franchise's all-time list -- and made six All-Star teams. But he never even made it to the conference finals. "You deserve this!" Metta World Peace said to Anthony as they found each other on the court after the game. "You started this." Anthony smiled. He had spent the night yelling instructions and observations out to the current Knicks players from his seat, including just before the Knicks' game winner. "I was yelling at them the whole time: 'The offensive rebound is there! The offensive rebound is there!'" Anthony told ESPN. "Coming out of that timeout, I made eye contact with them and was yelling 'The offensive rebound is there! Somebody go!'
The journey from Ron Artest to Metta World Peace is a great redemption story, and on Friday morning inside City Hall, the Los Angeles City Council officially celebrated “Metta World Peace Day,” honoring the former Lakers champion for his mental health advocacy. The recognition came after Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez introduced a resolution declaring May 15 as “Metta World Peace Day” throughout Los Angeles during Mental Health Awareness Month.
You were a teammate of Kobe Bryant, who had an 81-point performance prior to your arrival. Bam Adebayo recently surpassed this with an 83-point game. How impressive was that? Metta World Peace: I was very happy for him. I was super impressed. As I read more articles and heard a lot of the noise around it, it kind of diluted the emotion and excitement around it. It seemed like everyone was just talking about the free throws and the and-ones. He had 31 points in the first quarter. That’s crazy. At that point, you have to go for it. Once you score 30 in one quarter, if you score another 30 soon after, you’re already at 60. The Washington Wizards could’ve done something about it, but they couldn’t stop him. You can’t blame Bam for going for it. I would’ve done the same. Foul me all you want and give me the free throws if I have a chance to pass Kobe Bryant and be right behind Wilt Chamberlain. That’s an incredible achievement.
As well as getting Haliburton back healthy, what do the Pacers need to do in the offseason in order to get back to the NBA Finals? Metta World Peace: Haliburton returning is going to be a massive help, obviously. Outside of that, I don’t think they need much more because they have Coach Rick Carlisle. Coach Carlisle is really good at getting the best out of what he has. In fact, he’s one of the best at this. You saw that during the team’s run to the NBA Finals last season. On paper, I don’t think they were a team that was capable of going as far as they did. But Carlisle got the best out of them, and he can spot holes in other teams. Look at what he did against the Oklahoma City Thunder compared to how other teams have played against them. They pushed them all the way to Game 7. You definitely need Haliburton back, though. You can’t go into a season without a player like him. Once he is back, you have him and Coach Carlisle. You’re going to be good.
How do you think the Kevin Durant trade played out for the Rockets? Was it worth losing players such as Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks? Metta World Peace: I think it’s played out the same way for both the Rockets and the Phoenix Suns. It was quite an even trade. It’s tough for the Rockets because Durant missed Game 1 with a knee injury, then injured his ankle in Game 2, causing him to miss more time. That hurt them a lot. I’ve been injured in the playoffs, so I know how it feels. I was supposed to be out for six weeks with a meniscus tear, but I came back and played the San Antonio Spurs within two weeks. I wasn’t the same and couldn’t move. It’s hard to gauge whether the Rockets got the better of the trade because, while Durant is great, he’s a little older now. Meanwhile, the Suns got Jalen Green. Dillon Brooks is also showing he can play offense now and not just be a tough defender and enforcer. He is showing that he can score now. They both had tough situations in the playoffs. Houston had to face the Lakers, and Durant was hurt. The Suns went up against OKC, which is far from easy.
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I spoke with Metta World Peace again earlier today, and he reflected on seeing Wembanyama escape the hammer that fell so hard on him fourteen years ago. His reaction was a mix of veteran wisdom, empathy for a young star, and a touch of lingering “what-if” regarding his own career. “I got a little bit emotional,” World Peace admitted. “Sometimes you gotta win on the court and focus on the game. I wish I could not be able to be suspended and focus on the game. But, they ejected him and gave him a flagrant 2.”
Dave McMenamin: Big weekend for former Lakers champion Metta Sandiford-Artest. The Cal State L.A. women’s basketball team - where he serves as a volunteer assistant helping the Golden Eagles - won the CCAA Tourney for the first time in program history and earned a bid in the NCAA D-II Tourney
37 Partners, a talent and intellectual property services company co-founded and chaired by former NBAer Metta World Peace, on Wednesday is unveiling a new platform that seeks to help athletes and entertainers create, manage and monetize AI-generated digital likenesses of themselves. The platform is called Perpetual Celebrity Commerce (PCC) and powered by technology from Johnsmith.ai, a Chinese AI firm that specializes in digital twins and has worked with LVMH and Estee Lauder, among other major consumer brands. PCC will enable its users to generate AI avatars of themselves and license them for virtual brand activations (including multilingual translations), plus offer athletes legal support (e.g., cease-and-desist letters) against unauthorized use of their likenesses online.
Hey Mavs, TMZ Sports just found your next general manager -- METTA WORLD PEACE!!! We spoke with the former NBA star this week ... days after the Dallas Mavericks fired Nico Harrison, who was responsible for one of the worst trades in NBA history -- Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis. We started the conversation by asking for Metta's reaction to the firing ... but he caught us off-guard when he said he wanted to take Harrison's job!!
"The reason I say that is because I got so much experience," Metta said. "Running a basketball business would be fairly easy; running a sports business is fairly easy at the highest level, whether it's president or general manager. I'm running all operations."
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Metta World Peace: And I think when you take a person like myself—who came from the streets—and you talk about the stories that were presented… Metta—Ron Artest at the time—from the hard streets of New York, tough-minded… What made me tough is things I wouldn’t wish on nobody. It didn’t come from going to private school. It didn’t come from learning real estate. It didn’t come from generational wealth. It came from generational struggle.
Jeff Teague: It’s a persona. Like the first couple times he made it, he was locking up, he was killing, strapping up. He probably did that for two or three seasons, and then it just became a thing: “Kobe plays defense.” But Tony Allen and them dudes played defense. So you think Kobe Bryant, who’s shooting 40 shots, is also out here playing defense? He was competitive. But that don’t mean he was locking up. That’s why they had Metta World Peace — ‘cause when the best players start cooking…"
Metta World Peace: People laughed at my quote with I said “at times” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is better than Michael Jordan. Explain this . Shai is 1st ballot and will get more than 3 rings.
People laughed at my quote with I said “at times” @shaiglalex is better than MJ.
— Coach Metta (@MettaWorld37) June 25, 2025
Explain this . Shai is 1st ballot and will get more than 3 rings. pic.twitter.com/i9zkq84VF5
On the latest episode of the “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash, LeBron was asked who was the toughest defender he faced and he named World Peace as the player who really showed him what the NBA was all about in his early years: “Yeah, Ron Artest. Metta World Peace now. Really good with his hands, laterally was really good, strong as an ox. We played a game in my early years when he was in Indiana I mean, it was challenging for sure. One of the best defenders probably I’ve played against. I had to go straight back to my early days. Ron definitely had you like, OK this is what the league is about. OK, lets continue to lock in, this is a hell of a test for you as an 18-year old kid out of high school with a target on your back. I was like yeah, I love this. This is awesome.”