While the man known as Metta may have World Peace on the back of his jersey, that player is still Ron Artest, and he's in trouble once again with the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers were playing the Oklahoma Thunder at home when Metta World Peace, fresh off of celebrating a dunk over two opponents, landed a vicious backward elbow to James Harden's head. The OKC guard, and potential NBA Sixth Man award winner, was floored instantly. The roars of the crowd went silent as fans caught an eerie flashback to the Artest of old who caused calamity during the Malice at the Palace in 2004.
The NBA is likely to sideline the advocate of peace when the Lakers open the postseason this weekend, and possibly longer. He claims he accidentally clipped Harden while celebrating a dunk, yet given his history, not even his teammates have any idea why he lost control for an inexplicable instant. Having undid much of the goodwill created by his notable charity work over the past few years, the NBA's top brass have to decide how many games Artest will sit as the Lakers fight to win another championship.
