Ron Artest aka Metta World Peace set to grace the bench at Los Angeles Lakers – NBA News
Metta World Peace, the Los Angeles Lakers forward formerly known as Ron Artest, is set to get a bench role this coming NBA season. With Lamar Odom’s move away from the Staples Centre, it had been speculated that Artest would be
in for the starting small forward spot on the team.
That however will not be the case. Los Angeles head coach Mike Brown has different plans for Metta. The coach wants to give more dynamism to the Lakers bench, and he views Artest as the perfect player for that purpose.
The Lakers starting line-up will instead include Matt Barnes and Artest can come off the bench as a strong impact player whenever coach Brown requires that. The move makes sense because with the departure of Odom the Lakers do
look a little short of depth, especially at the small forward position. With Ron coming in late, the second string of Los Angeles can now have a reliable focal point.
The player himself was excited about the idea and said he was up to the responsibility.
'It's going to be good. I get a chance to come in and have more responsibility, which is good. It's going to make the other team off balance. Kobe, Pau and Bynum are going to be out and you're still going to have to double-team
me. You can't leave me alone on the block by myself." Artest said, as reported by the Daily News.
Coach Mike Brown even gave Artest a little pep talk in front of reporters to get the message across to the Lakers fan base.
Brown: "If that second unit ain't rolling, who's fault is it going to be?"
World Peace: "Me."
Brown: "It's on you. We've had this discussion a couple of times. If the second unit ain't rolling, who am I going to come to first?"
World Peace: "Right here."
Brown: "We're going to get it straight."
Los Angeles meanwhile are believed to be looking at a number of free agents in order to add some depth to the side. The Lakers have featured in 3 of the last 4 NBA Finals but there are fears in the Staple Centre that the team is
not up to the job anymore.
The management has been trying to ring in some changes ever since legendary coach Phil Jackson retired at the end of last season. Coach Brown has come in and brought a number of assistants to help him shake things up in Los Angeles.
The Lakers front office almost pulled off a blockbuster trade that would have paired Kobe Bryant with super star point guard Chris Paul, but the NBA shot it down. Since then, the Lakers have been scrapping to get some reinforcements
in before the season starts.
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