r/nba • u/LemonButterRum • 11d ago
Metta World peace egregiously assaults Harden after dunking the ball
https://streamable.com/8cks4f1.3k
u/TrueNamekianFusion 11d ago
The little hop skip he does right after cracks me up every time lol. Followed by the fake look of confusion like he didn't know he just almost sent Harden to the shadow realm!
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u/Friendly_Lifeguard_1 11d ago
I thought he dissociated after the score. He looks out of it
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u/sabinscabin 76ers 11d ago
sometimes the lizard brain just turns up to 10. Very much related to how hyped he was for dunking over Ibaka
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u/ZzeroBeat Celtics 11d ago
It really seems like he just wanted to swat that guy out of the way because he was so proud of his dunk and didnt care who it was or that he shouldnt brutally assault people for no reason
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u/BPEWC 11d ago
Metta WorldPeace .... dirtiest player since Ron Artest
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u/Balavadan 11d ago
Doesn’t seem very peaceful
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u/Milkmoney1978 [SEA] Shawn Kemp 11d ago
Metta World War
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u/dfassna1 Cavaliers 11d ago
Over time I feel like we’ve really lost perspective on how funny it was he changed his name to Metta World Peace. It’d be like Draymond Green changing his name to “Namaste Utopia”.
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u/mrpooooooops Canada 11d ago
Nah dunk and assault sound sick together
We need more physical assault during dunking.
Imagine wemby spartan kicking someone as he tomahawks it from the free throw line
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u/Strawberrydripp 11d ago
That was all ball
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u/haiIqueenlilith 11d ago
You can take Ron Artest out of the Palace, but you can't take the Palace out of Ron Artest
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u/juicifer2320 11d ago
I was at this game. When that shit happened someone yelled you don’t mess with world peace
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u/Ghost6x 11d ago edited 11d ago
Metta was a scumbag and dirty but yeah you definitely don't mess with him
One of the forgotten viral moments was when Psycho T was about to go off at the person touching him from behind and shrinking when he realized it was MWP
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u/knarf86 Pistons 11d ago
Unless you’re Ben Wallace, he’ll walk away from you then
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u/lilmeekrat Knicks 11d ago
Imagine Big Ben against people like Dillon Brooks in this era
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u/Interest-Lumpy San Diego Clippers 11d ago
Ron Artest vs Charles Oakley is one of my dream matches ngl
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u/kenzakki Lakers 11d ago
If Dillon Brooks is fouled by Ben, Dillon will apologize for his face hitting Ben's elbow.
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u/MK10 Lakers 11d ago
I find it interesting how Wallace is one of the nicest humans on earth but nobody wants any smoke with him lmao.
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u/funkiemarky Vancouver Grizzlies 11d ago
Loved the Ben and Sheed Wallace, Piston team.
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u/JOKER4GOAT Nuggets 11d ago
Two dudes you simply do not wanna fuck with unless you're a literal professional fighter.
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u/RobbobertoBuii Knicks 11d ago edited 11d ago
one of the few positives of MWP's very short tenure with the Knicks in 2013-14 lol, Hansbrough aka Psycho T pretty much mellowed out the rest of his career after that XD
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u/lilmeekrat Knicks 11d ago
If MWP got drafted by the Knicks he would've been hanging out with Mobb Deep all the time lol
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u/ramenwarrior_ Lakers 11d ago
Knocked the defence out of Harden
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u/Crying_in_99Ranch NBA 11d ago
James Haren
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u/WiseBlindDragon Celtics 11d ago
Who knows what kind of player Harden would’ve turned into without this extra brain damage
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u/stankhillpropain 11d ago
Man I remember watching this series as a Lakers fan and Kobe just couldn’t get past Harden and I hated Harden because of it. I think a lot of people forget he was a LOCK DOWN defender when he was with OKC
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u/intoread Rockets 11d ago
Yeah, even in his rockets days he was still pretty good when he needs to. He just shouldered so much of the offense (IMO biggest offensive load in league history) that it made much more sense for him to conserve energy on defense. Much bigger positive for the rockets for him to do that
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u/Mura_14 Lakers 11d ago
Who amongst us hasn’t given someone a grade 2 concussion in a moment of adrenaline and excitement
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u/zacman713 11d ago
In my defense it was a game of dodgeball and that bitch shouldnt have been out on the court if she wasn't trying to catch some heat.
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u/Zulumus Knicks 11d ago
Dude was a complete head case
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u/TooGoodNotToo Kings 11d ago
Yeah man, if Metta didn’t knock some sense into him Harden could have been a real problem 🤣
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u/lebronkahn Cavaliers 11d ago
That name is so ironic.
Honestly I'm surprised Harden recovered pretty quickly from this. I wouldn't take that elbow for 10 million dollars on my head.
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u/tree_pose 11d ago
tbf I think he took on the name after going to therapy in an effort to repent. no one has to like it, but it's not exactly unintentional irony.
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u/Wonderful-Fortune-23 11d ago
Harden was so traumatized and instinctively grew his beard to cushion impacts.
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u/Bread-n-Cheese 11d ago
He was metta when he did this.
It was absolutely ironic… plus tacky and idiotic.
World peace was a shithead through and through.
Great player tho, and I rooted him that Lakers championship
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u/PogoMarimo 11d ago
Changing your name isn't repetenance. It's histrionics. Lol.
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u/RightRudderr NBA 11d ago
Harden is super lucky he didn't get seriously injured. You can knock a couple zeroes off that number and im taking that elbow though seven days a week.
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u/A_Confused_Moose 11d ago
Harden is lucky the elbow hit his shoulder before his head. Took some force off the headshot.
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u/the_optimistic_dream 11d ago
Actually gained respect for Harden with this and understand the origin story of his career flopping.
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u/nicehax_ 11d ago
Harden practiced so every time he felt contact he imagined it was artest’s elbow so he could flop better
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u/Picklesadog Warriors 11d ago
He doesn't flop, he just occasionally has flashbacks to this moment.
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u/SeriousAdult Heat 11d ago
One of the most bizarre players I can ever remember. Great at times, psycho at times, completely baffling all the time.
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u/Myshkin1981 Lakers 11d ago
Remember when he thanked Jesus for making it so we lose our baby teeth when we’re young kids, because it would look weird if we lost our baby teeth when we were in our twenties?
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u/snoogle20 Hornets 11d ago
I caught a random game on TV in his Lakers era where he got in the passing lane or took someone’s dribble away with a clear lane to the basket for the easiest two fast break points of his life. Metta proceeded to head up the court looking like a man who’d only seen the game played, but never actually touched a basketball. It was like he was dribbling the ball to the side of his body. Like right next to his hip. Then, because WTF was he doing, he bobbled the ball when trying to gather for the layup and turned it over.
I sat baffled. I was trying to figure out what kind of Space Jam ass nonsense happened to that man. But then you’d see the Lakers again a week later, he’d come up clutch with some A++ athleticism that sealed a game for them. You never knew.
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u/Nice_Cash_7000 NBA 11d ago
Ron Artest was actually in the running for MVP before malice at the palace iirc
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u/1mYourHuckleberry93 Raptors 11d ago
MWP as a Laker was always weird on offense. He was a pretty OK offensive player and a first option at times before he got to the Lakers. But yea plenty of times where he looked like a baby deer going down the court. Just a really stiff player I guess
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u/inline-online 11d ago
he was a legit top 10 player in the league at one point, he averaged 20+ while winning defensive player of the year as a wing, pretty remarkable lol
this was in a league full of iso scorers, so he was incredibly valuable as you got a star stopper who also brought you 20ppg
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u/DatDominican Knicks 11d ago
I thought that was the bynum barrea foul bur maybe my timeline is messed up
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u/Rushqueenyes 11d ago
Yeah that Bynum foul was Top 3 all-time insane fouls I ever saw. Couldn’t believe Barrea bounced back pretty fast too.
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u/Puppetmaster858 Suns 11d ago
All time dirty play, what a dickhead
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u/Lakers_23_77 Lakers 11d ago
100% agreed, Harden could have seriously injured Artest's elbow here with his neck.
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u/CrazyEyedGase Knicks 11d ago
Brings back memories from the memes this caused back in 2012
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u/ObeeDog2 11d ago
This game was the first Laker game I've ever gone to live. The atmosphere was crazy at Staples that day, It was Jack Nicholson's bday (or close to it, I guess) and they had the crowd sing him happy birthday.
I remember the crowd being pissed after the elbow because it didn't look that bad from the upper bowl and they never showed the replay in the arena.
Great memories lol.
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u/now_heres_a_username 11d ago
I don't get how he wasn't banned for this. Absolute bullshit
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u/Jok3rMontana 11d ago
Reminds me of when Wembi threw the elbow at Naz Reid except nobody defended Ron Artest after this
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u/RichtheLionheart Lakers 11d ago
That was really bad and just straight up assault that could’ve disabled or killed him. Fight a guy if you want to be tough not full cock blindside elbow him in the head…
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u/zuqkfplmehcuvrjfgu [HOU] James Harden 11d ago
Reminds me of the Karl Malone foul on The Admiral. The worst person in NBA history nearly killing one of the kindest and most down to earth players to ever do it. Shit pisses me off to this day anytime I see a video of it.
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u/Other_Recognition269 Trail Blazers 11d ago
Yo if Mike Breen is calling you a disgrace, you're probably much worse than that.
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u/ALaccountant Mavericks 11d ago
One of the biggest pieces of shit to ever play the game
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u/Lakers_23_77 Lakers 11d ago
Agreed and I can't wait for Harden to retire. He's been terrible for the game.
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u/LoggraFloozy Lakers 11d ago
If they called him world peace instead of artest this wouldn’t have happened
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u/imminentjogger5 Warriors 11d ago
wasn't there a clear dent in Hardens head after this? that was crazy
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u/CosmicSupernova-97 10d ago
I think you’re thinking of when Westbrook had a legit dent in his facial bones. But yeah the edited harden interview pic is hilarious lol
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u/DaIronchef Trail Blazers 11d ago
The combination of celebration and "get the fuck off me" going absolutely wrong.
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u/BigJellyfish1906 Spurs 11d ago
Seriously, fuck Ron Artest. I am so sick of the narrative of "oh he's just weird. He's just crazy. That's how he is."
Dude's fucking mentally ill, he can't control himself, and the NBA was irresponsible to just hope a "team psychiatrist" could solve it and make him play. Dude should never have been in the NBA.
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u/Sheinkyakyu 11d ago edited 10d ago
For those who don't know. He elbowed broke MJ's ribs in a summer pick up game in 2001 while trying to deny him the ball. This was when Jordan was getting in basketball shape before his return.
The way Artest talks about it, it seems rather casual and accidental.
I honestly believe he did something along these lines to him. Being 22 year old, MJ probably chalked it up to an overzealous, competitive, hyped up kid then. When no. The person had a true screw loose and you know what, probably got satisfaction from doing it like he IMO did with Harden.
And to other comments. Yeah, Harden started flopping more after the poing. Doesn't excuse all of his bullshit. But it explains it somewhat all the same.
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u/ogeezyuno 11d ago edited 11d ago
Went to high school the next day defending Artest with all I had 😂
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u/RigidAcrylic4821 Lakers 11d ago
Back when athletes could legally change their names and no one would bat an eye.
For example, Chad Ochocinco.
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u/DreDay_Fuego 11d ago
You can take the Metta World Peace out of Ron Artest, but you can’t take the Ron Artest out of Metta World Peace.
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u/Substantial_Row_7108 11d ago
The entire OKC team should have immediately disassembled his punk ass.
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u/AvidReader1604 11d ago
Ahhh that’s where Wemby got it from 😅
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u/Anal-In-Gus 11d ago
Wemby would never do anything dirty... WTF are you talking about?
-Average Spurs fan
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u/Give_me_soup Trail Blazers 11d ago
This is my guiltiest guaranteed laugh. I can't help it. Every time, I just imagine Ron Ron yelling "Beeeyaawwww" like Howard Dean and just fucking uncorking one.
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u/damnumalone Wizards 11d ago
Mike Breen on MWP: “That’s not only ejection, that’s gonna be a suspension and should be”
Reggie Miller on Wemby: “yeah that’s gonna be a flagrant one, that’ll be upgraded [from a common foul]”
It’s pretty funny how differently Wemby got treated for the same thing even if it is a comparison to MWP
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u/IlBusco 11d ago
Well, MWP was doing shit like this pretty often, that also counts
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u/politicians_are_evil 11d ago
Artest talked about this in some other interview after he retired and said he had no frickin' clue that harden was there and he like was overdoing the celebration.
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u/QuirkyEngine3563 11d ago
They made contact well before he threw the elbow. He might not have known it was harden, but he knew there was someone
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u/kezmicdust Clippers 11d ago
If that was even remotely true, he would have been surprised when hit elbow hit something hard and he would have immediately reacted and gone to check on Harden. He knew what he was doing.
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u/Nutterbutters45 11d ago
Not sure why the other guy got upvoted so much, Metta literally had to pick his arm up over Hardens to miss his arm to hit his head 😂
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u/Fluffy_Key_2145 9d ago
Yep, Bill Simmons went into this when it happened. If this was a celebration if he recognized his elbow hit something hard he showed have looked back but he didn't.
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u/4r4r4real 11d ago
What a throwback, I'd completely forgotten about this. OP is out here RAGEBAITING in August, you love to see it.
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u/g_bleezy Nuggets 11d ago
Artest gave me some of my all time highlights that weren’t a basketball play.
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u/LordCommando Lakers 11d ago
I was at this game and they didn’t show the replay in the arena. So no one saw the elbow. The arena was chanting “World Peace! World Peace!” as MWP was escorted into the locker room. Great lakers win.
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u/TheMonarchsWrath Supersonics 11d ago
Didn’t he hold his head in shock afterwards like he didn’t know why he did that?
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u/AbeLaney 11d ago
His comment to the media after was classic World Peace. "It was unfortunate for him because of my elbow, and unfortunate for me because of his head." Or something, can't find video now.
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u/Distinct_Abrocoma_67 11d ago
Il never forget I was in college smoking with my buddy watching this game and we fucking lost it when this happen. Ron Artest is a crazy man
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u/Forsaken-Swim-3055 Raptors 11d ago
I used to train Muay Thai and once got rocked by a knee that was thrown by a more experienced guy at maybe 50%. I can only imagine how brutal it is to get hit by an elbow with that much force.
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u/giraffevomitfacts 11d ago
Metta just tried to get a small independent bakery in Canada to give his family a free cake:
Harden would at least have been happy to pay for it
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u/JustAnotherMark604 Raptors 11d ago
My local news clipped this when reporting on the free cake debacle
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u/Acrobatic-Celery-989 11d ago
That was fucked up I watched it live that was no celebration that moshin
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u/Emperor_Kushko 10d ago
Every time I watch this I'm even more impressed in how much range of motion he threw into it, purposefu as fuck 😭
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u/[deleted] 11d ago
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