Metta World Peace Makes Mockery of His Name

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We thought Ron Artest, or Metta World Peace as he is called now, had changed who he was as a person. We were sadly mistaken. Ron Artest first became famous as the instigator who started the 2004 brawl that took place in the Palace of Auburn Hills when playing for the Indiana Pacers. For that incident, he received an  86-game suspension. Since then, he had supposedly changed who he was. He changed his name to Metta World Peace, gave away thousands of dollars to charities, and won the NBA's citizenship award. All looked good, until he showed his utter lack of self-control once against in today's highly emotional game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

With 1:39 remaining in the second quarter, World Peace made a slam dunk to draw the Lakers to within one. He celebrated by beating his chest excessively, and then carelessly elbowed Thunder guard James Harden in the back of the head violently. The blow knocked Harden to the floor, where he lay for several minutes. Upon viewing the video evidence, the officials obviously ejected World Peace from the game.

World Peace and the Lakers are of course deeming the incident an accident. How anyone can believe that is nonsensical to me. The elbowing looks to be completely on purpose. Even if it was not, World Peace still has to be punished. Think about an example of killing someone. Even if it is an accident, you are going to prison. World Peace has to be punished either way. The play was ugly and unruly and deserves to be punished as such. The NBA needs to make an example out of World Peace. I believe the minimum punishment should be a suspension for the entirety of the playoffs. There is a chance that Harden could be out that long, which means World Peace should be as well. Personally, I think that he should be banned for life. This is the second major incident in his career.The NBA has tried to cleanup its image since the 2004 brawl, and here is the same player soiling that image once again. World Peace is simply a player who cannot control his emotions and body and is a danger to the well-being of other players, coaches, officials, and fans. For their protection, World Peace must be punished, and in my opinion, heavily so.