Metta World Peace tells Draymond Green he regrets demanding a trade from Indiana after the 2004 Palace brawl, which he says was chaos he didn't fully understand in the moment. The suspensions that followed killed the Pacers' championship window. He played well in Sacramento and Houston but his role shrank when he joined the Lakers with Kobe and Pau Gasol.
Chapters
Do you have any regrets in leaving Indiana when you left? Because I personally think that team could have won a championship.
Yeah, big regrets. You know, I was young and dumb. I always tell people, don't request trades. I always tell people it's not always greener on the other side. You know, as a basketball player, you know, it goes in phases and we all are entitled players at times. And I was a very like entitled player. So when I don't get my way, I request trades. I wish I would've saw it through. You know, I wish I would've had the ability and the strength to understand that, you know, things get better. You know, if you just have a little patience. But as a 23-year-old, I wasn't looking at it like that. And I definitely regret it. I tried to get back to Indiana actually, right before I got to the Lakers. I was trying to get back to Indiana. Mm-hmm. But you know, so much happened, they didn't wanna take it back.
That's interesting. And obviously that leads to what sparked that was the Malice at the Palace. I actually had the opportunity of playing with Jermaine O'Neal my second year in the league, one of my OGs. And he told us a story. We obviously were all asking about the Malice at the Palace. As a kid growing up in Saginaw, Michigan, I remember that like it was yesterday. I'm watching the guy, I knew guys on the floor and all type of stuff. So I'm like, yo, what's going on? But I was talking to Draymond and he said, man, one thing I loved about our team was we was really a bunch of crazy motherfuckers. Like that's how Jermaine explained it to me. Like we were a bunch of crazy motherfuckers. He said, we had Stack Jack and we had Ron. He said, after the brawl, We walk into the locker room and Ron come in and say, "Yo, y'all think we gonna get suspended?" He said, "Y'all think we gonna get—" Do you remember that? Is that true?
I remember that.
I remember that.
'Cause you know, I'm used to like, if somebody, you know, you get in a fight, it's like over. 'Cause you know, especially if you didn't start the fight. You know, I did everything in my power. I remember that day trying to do everything in my power to not get in any trouble. Even 3 years into the league, I was getting ejections, suspensions. And I'm like, I just wanna have a good season. I just wanna like, you know, continue this legacy. And so I didn't expect to get in that brawl that day. I expected to come out of there clean, you know? And then when I get to the locker room, I'm just like, is this really happening? Like, I just could not believe it. You know, I go to the scorer's table, I lay down, you know, Ben's throwing his headbands. I'm like just sitting there and I'm just, what's gonna end in boom? This guy throws a cup of beer and then I just snap, right? It's like, what just happened within like what, 5, 10 minutes? Like maybe 8 minutes. Yeah.
It's just crazy. That's interesting. It's funny because I had a situation, man, about 5, 6 years ago now, back in East Lansing. And I was telling some friends of mine, I said, yo, I've been in a lot of situations and whatever happened in the situation, I probably caused it a little bit with my attitude. I said, but this was the one time I actually held it together this time. Like I held it together. I didn't do anything. I retreated, went back the next day, same guy come at me again. Like I did everything in my power. And that's the one day that it actually goes wrong is the day that I try to hold it together. So it's funny to hear that, but—
Draymond Green.
So that transpires, you get suspended for the rest of the season, and then everything happens with Draymond gets his suspension, Stack gets his suspension. We never get to see the true potential of that team realized. You move on, couple stops, and then you end up with the Lakers. And I think that's where, if you tell me, but I feel like that's where your career really took a turn where you were respected, all-star, all of those things. But then you get to the Lakers playing with Kobe. Explain that journey to me and how everything changed for you, especially perception-wise of Ron Artest, metal world peace, once you went to the Lakers.
Well, you know, it actually started out with Sacramento. So when I got to Sac after Indiana and I was gonna retire actually that year, I put in my papers. So then I get to Sacramento and I go to Coach Adelman and I'm like, yo, coach, I'm 273 pounds right now. I'm really not interested in playing. I was like, I don't wanna make a big deal outta this, but if you could somehow, you know, keep me on the bench and you know, I'll be there, but I'm trying to ease my way outta this thing, right? So he was like, he said, Ron, I'll try to ease my way out, right? So he was like, he said, Ron, we gonna go as far as you take us. You playing, we gonna go as far as you take us. That's what Coach Adelman tells me. So we in the last place in the West. So I go home that night, And I started to think about it, put it in perspective. I come back next day and I say, "You know what? We going to the playoffs." And like media laughed or whatever. We go to the playoffs, almost beat the Spurs in the playoffs. And then, but that right there really, you know, got the love back. And then just being around Coach Adelman, he's like a father figure. So being around Coach Adelman, you know, I was able to just like kind of get the love and kind of respect the game more. And then I went to play for him again in Houston. You know, I kind of played pretty well there and my game was coming back because, I had a couple years where I wasn't even, I got suspended. Then the next year I got suspended again by the team. Nobody really realized that. I got suspended again for 3 months.
Really?
Yeah, but I was suspended for the first 3 months of the season the next year.
Wow. So. Wow.
Then I didn't play no more for the Pacers. Then I went to Sacramento. So that's like 2 years of like, you know, I was in shape right before the brawl, you know, I was like. So, you know, it was when I got to Houston, then I was like prime, you know, I was averaging 25 in the playoffs against the Lakers. I was back to myself. Then I go to the Lakers the next year in my prime, I was 29, but I'm playing with the greatest and I'm playing with Pau, right? So with that being said, my average go from, dropped to like 6. And then that was it. Like that was all she wrote, you know?
Yeah.
But the thing I, what I really love about that moment was I was able to, take away the entitled Draymond Green and sacrifice for the team. And I just did everything I had to do. I was spotted up, you know, plenty of time, just not touching the ball. But I tried to do everything the right way. And I was— that was the most proud I was of my career because, you know, I accepted, you know, something I'm not used to, which I started everywhere I went. You know, I was like go-to guy, all this stuff. And then I had to accept the role and I was like, okay, now I'm mature. And I realized right then and there that I That I was maturing.
