It came as quite a surprise to most this offseason when Metta World Peace, formerly Ron Artest, returned to the NBA, re-joining the Los Angeles Lakers after his stint in China.
36-year-old World Peace, who has a reputation for having a bit of a questionable attitude, has had a few surprising quotes this season. He said that he’s still one of the best small forwards in the league, and that he wants to coach one day.
Now, World Peace is saying that this will not be his last year in the NBA. From Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times:
“I still want to get in the playoffs again. I want to do a couple more years,” the Lakers forward said Tuesday. “This year I didn’t play much so I kind of saved myself. I’m going to come back next year strong.”
I’m not sure whether World Peace has two years left in the tank, but maybe he’s just been saving himself, as he says. He’s still in game shape, and when in shape, World Peace still believes that he has the ability to be a defensive stopper.
In 23 games for the Lakers this season, World Peace has averaged 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game, while shooting 29.1% from the field.
