New York Knicks: Metta World Peace Says He Can Still Play

Former New York Knicks forward Metta World Peace believes that he can still play in the NBA if given the chance.

The New York Knicks missed on the chance to have hometown product Metta World Peace, known as Ron Artest at the time, play for them when they passed on him with the 15th overall pick. Everyone knows how that went, as the Knicks selected Frederic Weis out of France.

Weis would never end up appearing in the NBA, but he became a household name when Vince Carter dunked on him during the 2000 Olympics in Synder, Austrailia.

The Knicks would eventually bring World Peace home, as they signed him as a free agent prior to the 2013-14 season. The Knicks were coming off their best season in over two decades and were looking to put another veteran group around Carmelo Anthony.

While everyone was happy to see the Queensbridge, New York native back home, things did not go exactly as planned. The Knicks struggled throughout the season, missing the playoffs and finishing the season with a record of 37-45.

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World Peace looked like he was done as an NBA player, as he appeared in only 29 games, averaging 13.4 minutes per game and averaging 4.8 points on 39.7 percent shooting to go along with two rebounds per game.

He wouldn’t make it through the season with the Knicks, as they waived him on February 24th along with Beno Udrih to open up some spots on the roster.

We would not see World Peace in the NBA for a little while, as he did not play in the league during the 2014-15 season. He resurfaced with the Los Angeles Lakers in late September of 2015, signing with the team he won an NBA title playing for in 2010.

World Peace played in 35 games, getting a front row seat for the Kobe Bryant farewell tour. He averaged five points and 2.5 rebounds in 16.9 minutes per game, making five starts. World Peace seems to be nearing the end of his playing career, but he thinks that he still has something to offer to a team and could still play in the NBA.

"I’m waiting for teams. I can still play. I can play, it’s not even a question man. But, you know, sometimes you don’t get in the game, man. What are you going to do? I’m not going to be upset, I’m going to support. So if I don’t play, like this year on the Lakers I could have averaged 15 or 20 on the Lakers if I played, easily. But you know, I’ll be supportive [if I don’t play]. But the only thing that gets me frustrated with the whole basketball is people think I can’t play anymore. So as a man, I take that personally. But at the same time I’m able to still focus on making sure Julius Randle is doing his thing, and he’s focused, making sure I can give back. But when the season’s over, then I like to explain that I can play, and I can bust people’s ass. But the fans have to understand, it’s not up to me. It’s so frustrating to keep hearing it from the fans. ‘Come back to New York, come to Chicago. Why didn’t you play.’ It’s so frustrating at times."

World Peace is a very passionate player, and it comes through when reading what he said to ESPN New York’s Ian Begley when they caught up with him in New York City.

While World Peace will be most remembered by many for the Malice at the Palace in 2004, he was an integral part of the Lakers 2010 NBA Championship team and was always a gamer on the court.

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If this is indeed the end of the line for World Peace’s playing career, he will still remain involved with the game of basketball, as he also told Begley that he is a coach and mentor for a lot of people currently in the NBA.

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