A former NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers will be re-joining the franchise that he once called home.
Metta World Peace, the basketball player formally known as Ron Artest, will be joining the Los Angeles Lakers for this upcoming season. Over the summer he’s been working out with young Lakers forward Julius Randle. There was speculation that Metta would re-join the team but now, it’s all but official.
Following from Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski.
Free-agent forward Metta World Peace has reached agreement on a one-year, non-guaranteed deal to return to the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
World Peace will sign his contract Thursday, and take a physical to formalize the agreement on Friday, league sources said.
World Peace is expected to make the roster and play a role as a small forward off the bench, and a veteran extension of coach Byron Scott in the young Lakers locker room.
He will join the Lakers in Hawaii on Monday for the start of training camp.
There’s good and bad when it comes to Metta World Peace. On the positive end, you’re getting a veteran forward who knows the ins and outs of the NBA. He’s tough, tenacious and is full of love and respect for his team an teammates as long as he gets it back and in Los Angeles, he played some of his best basketball as a role player.
He was once known as a defensive stopper especially during his days with the Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets, and Sacramento Kings. Now as World Peace is 35 years old and turning 36 in November he’ll be looked at to play a different role. A role as a mentor to his young Lakers teammates.
