Metta World Peace sought to play in Angola before joining the Lakers
Metta World Peace: So, I told my agent, “I want to go to Greece. I really don’t want to play with anyone else.” My agent, David B., and I discussed it, and I said, “I want to go to Europe. There’s nobody I want to play with.” I got a call from a few players—some really good players—but I said no. It’s not because I didn’t like them. I just respected them enough to want to compete against them. I wanted to test where I was at. When I tried to sign with the team in Greece, they said, “No way Ron Artest wants to come to Greece.” I was like, “Why didn’t you even give me an interview?” I took it a certain way. Then, I tried to go to Angola. I wanted to play in Africa—in the motherland. The people in Angola were like, “No way.” They weren’t taking my call. I was like, “How do you not take my call? I just averaged 25 points against the Lakers.” It was unbelievable.
Source: YouTube
More on this storyline
Metta World Peace: I told myself, "I’m going to be the hardest worker here." Yao was a hard worker—he didn’t miss a single suicide. We’d try to get him to take a break, but he wouldn’t. That’s just the kind of player he was. But then there was Kobe. I’m watching him, and I’m like, “Damn, there’s really nothing I can do.” He was in the gym at 6 a.m. Me? I was just coming home drunk, coming back from the club, but Kobe? He’s already in the gym. I work hard, though, you know? I’d sweat the alcohol out there. I swear to God. But one day, I decided I had to see it for myself. I got to the gym at nine—he was already gone. Then I got there at eight one day—he was just leaving. Finally, one day, I got there at six. I did my own thing, but I saw it. I was like, “Wow, this guy’s different. He’s a different breed. A different dude, man.” He played through a broken foot. Like, you know, he’s not going to feel the pain. Gary Vitti said Kobe had the highest threshold for pain he’d ever seen. For sure. There were times I’d think, “Wow, I’ve got a high threshold for pain, too.” But when Gary told me that about Kobe, I was like, “Really?” He said, “B, I’ve never seen anybody like him.” -via YouTube / December 11, 2024
Metta World Peace: "When the Rockets said they wouldn’t bring me back, I was surprised. I wanted to stay. Then my agent said the Lakers wanted to meet. Dr. Buss said, ‘We can’t pay you what you’re worth, but we’d love to have you.’ I didn’t care about the money. I just thought about Kobe, Phil, and Lamar—like this was my chance. The Bulls were my favorite team growing up, but now I was joining the Lakers, a team I admired. I felt like I had sabotaged my career, and now the basketball gods were giving me one more shot. -via YouTube / December 9, 2024
Metta World Peace: The last time I spoke to (Michael Jordan) was after the brawl. He was the only player who called me. He said, ‘Don’t worry, young fella, I’m gonna try to get you back.’ When he said that, I thought, ‘Wow, if MJ believes in me, I’ll be back.’ But not even Michael could fix things with David Stern. He was tough." -via YouTube / December 9, 2024
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Metta World Peace sought to play in Angola before joining the Lakers
