Last Friday it was announced that Lakers forward Ron Artest had officially changed his name to Metta World Peace. Artest had been contemplating this name change for three years before finally drawing the motivation to do so from Chad Ochocinco of the New England Patriots.
Let us take a look back at the player that was Ron Artest and is now Metta World Peace.
ARTEST VS ARIZA
The Lakers acquired Ron Artest via free agency on July 2, 2009. Many fans criticized the signing because of how effective Ariza was down the stretch for the Lakers in the 2008-09 season. However, after losing to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals, the Lakers felt they needed more of a defensive presence. This held to be true as the Lakers would win the 2010 NBA title.
Here is a look at both players just after they swapped teams:
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu1zMV5j0fo
ARTEST DEFEATS SUNS AT BUZZER
Just when it seemed like the Lakers and Suns would be heading to overtime in Game 5 of the 2010 Western Conference Finals, Ron Artest would quickly rebound a Kobe Bryant missed field goal and rapidly put it back in the hoop at the buzzer to give the Lakers a 3-2 series lead.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MThR2YyW7j8
ARTEST VS PIERCE
To quote the broadcast, “it took 27 seconds for these two to go at it.” Ron Artest never backed down from any player who tried to get in his face. Artest earned the reputation as a hard-nosed yet dirty player. In this clip, he gets tangled up with Paul Pierce of the Celtics in Game 1 of the 2010 NBA Finals.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jbh_S246Fs
