Metta World Peace

Taylor Geas

It houses your fears and your desires. It stores your dreams, your conflicts, and your identity — who you think you are. And who you hope someday you’ll be. That goes for NBA Champions, All-Stars, and Defensive Players of the Year. That goes for Metta Sandiford-Artest who falls under all three of those categories, it goes for everybody.

“It’s all mental. Embrace your struggle,” the 17-year NBA veteran spelled out. The “embracing” is a learned skill for those that have struggled with mental health though, a skill the former Lakers small forward knows pretty well.

There are so many complex layers to the mind, but let’s simply break down navigating mental health into two stages: the reaction and the response.

The reaction is the stage where one’s inner conflict is usually provoked. It’s Kevin Love’s panic attack, DeMar DeRozan’s tweet, Naomi Osaka’s choice to forego the press conference, and Simone Biles withdrawing from the team competition. Most times, the media conversation lives in the reaction space because this is the moment where someone who society deems “invincible” asks for help. And so, people want to identify the catalyst, analyze the turmoil, and understand the confusion.

This was Malice in the Palace for Metta. It happened more than 10 years prior to Love, DeRozan, Osaka, and Biles.

After his reaction sparked a brawl among players and fans in November 2004, incessant conversation from the media, a season-ending suspension, and his first dip into the deep waters of depression followed.

For most people struggling with mental health, this reaction stage offers a lens to view our “unlived lives,” what could’ve been. Metta spent a moment in this space. He’s acknowledged his disappointment around playing in the All-Star Game only once, being named Defensive Player of the Year for the only time the season before, not leading Indiana to an NBA Championship, and losing the opportunity of MVP candidacy that 2004 season with the Pacers. “I had the world at my feet,” the kid from Queensbridge, NY wrote in his book No Malice.

But he didn’t stay there; you can’t stay there.

Because it’s here that the mind will make you think you’ve lost everything. You’ll constantly imagine who you were going to become, all you’ll be able to see are your problems. “That’s not what’s important,” Metta wrote, “What’s important are the solutions I found to help me overcome those problems.”

That’s embracing the struggle. That’s where stage two comes in — the response.

The solutions he searched for not only affected Metta personally, but his approach and his honesty also helped cultivate an environment, more than 10 years in the making, for other athletes to feel comfortable coming forward and sharing their struggles. He and those athletes’ openness encouraged the media to reevaluate their approach to the conversation around mental health. “I think they weren’t as sensitive, but now people have put the pressure on media to be more sensitive towards people’s mental health,” Metta claimed.

Personally, Metta's response took shape in many different forms. He won a championship with the Lakers in 2010. He contained the Celtics’ primary scorer Paul Pierce flawlessly. And when approached by the media after they had secured their 16th title, Metta thanked his psychiatrist for teaching him the skills that made him so clear-headed and collected in that Game 7 performance, despite the pressure of what hung in the balance. Metta described that mentally, “it felt like it was very still, present, present-moment type of feeling. I was meditating during the game. I was meditating during that moment.”

After his first stint in Los Angeles, he returned to New York City and fulfilled his childhood dream of playing for the Knicks in Madison Square Garden. Then, he returned to the Lakers for two more seasons. He’s a present father and a major advocate for mental health awareness. His biggest piece of advice to players in the league today is, “staying in the moment but understanding after basketball there is a life.”

His highs and lows have taught him where to find balance. It's in patience, meditation, exercise, healthy eating, yoga, and time for self, he pointed out. And Metta understands that “having the passion sometimes can outweigh the positives and everything you work for. That’s what life’s all about, learning, and there’s a learning curve. But the more positive people you have around you and that have your best interest, the better.” In letting go of who he thought he was going to become; he became who he is, someone people really needed.

It’s Metta who offers yet another insight into the fact that just because you’re tough as hell, big and strong, a professional, a millionaire, etc. you can still be hindered by mental health struggles. But that’s not the point. You’re not defined by your reaction to the struggle, you’re defined by your response. And after 42 years, nothing’s going to stop him from searching for those solutions.

metta-on-the-mind

Metta on the Mind

Joey Ramirez

It had been two years since Kobe Bryant left the parquet floor of TD Garden in tears after his Lakers failed to beat the hated Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.

Now in 2010, Bryant and co. faced a similar dilemma on their home court. Game 7 against the Celtics: get revenge or fall short again.

It was far from a pretty game, but it was an absolutely gritty one, with L.A. scoring just 34 points in the first half.

And for a moment it looked like the Lakers were cursed to repeat history, as they trailed by 13 in the third quarter.

Boston was determined to prevent Bryant from beating them on his own, sending constant double-teams at the Lakers’ star. While the Black Mamba scored a game-high 23 points, he shot just 6-of-24 from the field.

“This one is by far the sweetest, because it's them,” Bryant said afterward. “This was the hardest one by far. I wanted it so bad, and sometimes when you want it so bad, it slips away from you. My guys picked me up.”

The Lakers compensated by dominating the battle for possession, getting extra chances by scrapping for offensive rebounds and turnovers.

This fighting spirit was perhaps best embodied by Pau Gasol, who racked up 19 points and 18 rebounds (half of which were on the offensive glass).

“It’s very sweet,” Gasol said. “It definitely adds up when you beat Boston, especially the rivalry, the history of the franchise.”

Derek Fisher’s 3-pointer tied the game at 64 and sparked an 11-0 Lakers run. Gasol himself added a clutch bucket in the post over three Celtics.

But the lasting image of the night came from the man who coach Phil Jackson called the most valuable player of the night.

Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace) was only six years removed from the infamous “Malice in the Palace” brawl that left him suspended for an entire season.

But through tireless work on his own mental health, Artest had rehabilitated his image and become a valuable member of the Lakers’ playoff run.

“He brought life to our team, he brought life to the crowd,” said Jackson.

And when Bryant was met by a double-team with just 1:01 remaining in the biggest game of his life, he trusted Artest to make the biggest shot of his career.

Artest jab-stepped at Paul Pierce before draining a 3-pointer, inflating the Lakers’ one-possession lead to six points.

“He never passes me the ball, and he passed me the ball!” Artest laughed at his now-legendary press conference. “Kobe passed me the ball, and I shot a 3!”

After Artest — who had 20 points and five steals — gave the Lakers that extra buffer, Bryant and Sasha Vujacic sealed an 83-79 victory by hitting all four of their free throws down the stretch.

It was, at times, excruciating for the Lakers, who shot just 32.5 percent from the field and led for only nine minutes.

And it was especially difficult for Bryant, who had more shot attempts than points.

Nonetheless, Kobe was the unquestioned leader of the franchise’s 16th championship, earning Finals MVP honors after averaging 28.6 points in the series and grabbing 15 rebounds in Game 7.

And so it was Bryant who stood on the scorer’s table before his celebrating fans, champion for a fifth and final time.

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Lakers History: Game 7 Revenge Over the Celtics

Mike Trudell

Throughout history, every opponent gets up for the Lakers.

The 2009 Western Conference semifinals weren’t any different, with the Houston Rockets upsetting Phil Jackson’s squad in Game 1 and threatening to return to Texas with a commanding series lead.

Fresh off a painful loss in the 2008 Finals, the purple and gold won 65 games in the regular season to become the No. 1 seed in the West. However, a scrappy team led by the artist formerly known as Ron Artest loomed as a serious threat – ready to shock the world or to go down swinging.

“It's the playoffs,” Kobe Bryant said. “This is what it's about.”

The Lakers jumped to a commanding 14-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but Houston punched back, tying the score heading into halftime. It was a clear foreshadowing of the type of back and forth series we’d eventually see.

That night of May 9th though, the Lakers were done messing around. A 16-4 run pushed their lead to double digits one more time, and the rest of the way was a simple matter of holding on.

Well, maybe not so simple, given the number of technical fouls being doled out. Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, and Luis Scola received techs toward the end of the third quarter.

Moments later, Derek Fisher was called for a flagrant foul after colliding with the Argentine and got a bloody cut on his head. Fish was ejected.

“We are playing basketball, there is a lot of contact taking place,” Bryant said. “If you are going to be physical you have to expect to get physical back.”

Tempers never cooled down and neither did the back and forth between Bryant and Artest, who went mano a mano throughout most of the night.

Kobe finished with 40 points on an excellent 16-of-27 from the field. Artest had 25 (4-for-7 from beyond the arc) and five assists but was eventually ejected in the fourth.

Pau Gasol had a monster performance with 22 points (on 13 shots), 14 boards, four assists and four blocks – manning the middle (Andrew Bynum managed just 8 minutes) and getting the best of Yao Ming, who finished with 12 points on just four shot attempts.

Kobe knew then and there that they were in for a dog fight.

“We are being tested and this is fun,” he said.

Lo and behold, the Rockets forced a Game 7 before running out of gas. The Lakers dismantled them at STAPLES Center by an 89-70 score and eventually defeated the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals for their 15th title in franchise history.

The following year they added Artest to their squad and he played a key role in beating Boston in the 2010 Finals. In 2011, Artest changed his name to Metta World Peace, and went on to become one of the franchise’s most beloved players of the decade.

Metta World Peace

Metta on the Mind

Lakers History: Game 7 Revenge Over the Celtics

Lakers History: Kobe & Metta Battle Before Winning a Ring Together

Metta World Peace at Camp Lakers 2019