Give World Peace a Chance...
With the Los Angeles Lakers surviving their First Round series and beginning the next chapter in their erratic, controversial season in the Western Conference Semifinals tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder, all eyes are turning to one man who seemingly has the ability to change the course of NBA destinies...Metta...World...Peace.
Oklahoma City is already one of the loudest, most feverish, small market high school gymnasiums in all of the NBA. There is no doubt that World Peace's actions from a few weeks ago are going to motivate those crazy fans who rode up to the stadium in their horse-drawn carriages even further.
The fans are going to be rabid, frantic, desperate, and if the Lakers find a way to control a lead going into the 4th quarter tonight, then yes, extra security may be needed.
And you know what...it's going to make for one exciting game. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Here's the thing, though: Does World Peace really deserve the negative heat he has been getting since his inadvertent elbow gave James Hardin a concussion during the regular season?
Instead of over-dramatizing what went down, let's just call it how it is:
World Peace was innocent.
James Harden and the Oklahoma City Thunder play one of the dirtiest, most physical games in the league right now. In fact, their style of play has forced the other teams in the league to stoop down to their level, creating a season where thug-like behavior and cheap-shot physicality off the ball seem to be the norm, and oddly accepted by the league.
Was World Peace being overly dramatic and overly passionate in his celebration over the specific play leading up to the elbow? Absolutely. Was his elbow malicious in its intent? Absolutely not.
If you watch the replays, you'll notice that Harden wasn't quite near the play. Once the basket went down, and World Peace started celebrating, Harden intentionally chose to run up to Peace in what looks to be an attempt to distract him from his celebration and get under his skin. He chose to put himself in harm's way and was met with the inadvertent elbow and the brute force of World Peace.
It's common sense, really. If Ivan Drago from Rocky IV was in your way, would you choose to run up behind him and talk trash, or would you stay out of his way?
Point being: Harden knew who he was dealing with, and chose to put himself in that position, really, just like Rocky did. Harden knows who Peace is. He knows he's the former Ron Artest. Respect the man, or get out of his way.
For those of you who think Harden would have been incapable of such a sophisticated strategy in a split-second instinctive moment, then you are making the case for why World Peace is innocent. Peace had the same split second that Harden did in that moment. Harden chose to run up to Peace. Peace, with his back to Harden the entire time, threw an instinctive elbow when he felt 220 lbs riding on his back. Give him a break.
In this article written for the Oklahoman by a hometown reporter, John Rohde, he hilarious states, "Metta Give Peace a Chance defied his new name and human decency on April 22 when he delivered a wicked elbow..."
Full article here:
http://blog.newsok.com/thunderrumblings/2012/05/13/giving-metta-world-peace-the-silent-treatment/
Really, Rohde? Peace really defied human decency? What is occurring in Somalia is defying human decency. An accidental elbow after getting bruised and cheap-shotted by that very same player during that entire game is not defying human decency.
My entire position on this matter would be different if Peace made eye contact with Harden, saw who he was dealing with, sized him up, and intentionally delivered the blow. But he didn't, and really, even the commissioner of the NBA, David Stern, was quoted as saying that the suspension time frame was directly proportional to the past actions of the specific player being analyzed. In other words, even Stern was saying that if it was, say, Kobe Bryant who threw that elbow, we would have seen maybe a one-game suspension.
So while all these Oklahoma City Thunder fans will be ravenous against Peace, really, they should be thanking him. Clearly after seeing Peace's performance in Game 7 against the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers very easily may have swept the Nuggets in 4 games. Instead, the Lakers were taken to the brink and are exhausted leading into Game 1 in Oklahoma City where, thanks to Peace and the Lakers, the Thunder will have had 10 days of rest, including much needed rest and treatment for Kendrick Perkins. And let's not forget the fact that Harden never missed a beat since the concussion - in fact, his stats are up.
The Thunder fans shouldn't be booing Peace, therefore. They should be kissing him.
Unless, of course, the Lakers come into their crib and punk them.
A League of Dirty Play
If you would like lessons on how to properly disguise dirty play and have it be accepted by the league, instead of analyzing World Peace, take a look at the play of Harden, Perkins, and the Thunder tonight.
What you will see is off-the-ball cheap-shot antics. When Kobe drives through the lane without the ball to get positioning, you'll see each Thunder player throw an elbow to a rib, or a jab to his shoulder. Mind you, these are not legal, planted screens he is having to run around. These are the quick little shots a ref may not catch. When Gasol is trying to establish position, you'll see Perkins throw hard punches into his lower back.
Of course, one could very easily argue that if the ref doesn't call it, the play and physicality must be legit. That's perfectly fine and well, but there's only so much of that cheap-shotting a player can take before they start to dish it back.
What about those refs that aren't calling those plays? Here is where we turn to our conspiracy theories about the league. As an admitted Laker-homer, here is how I would interpret things:
Firstly, there is no secret that the Thunder are the Western Conference darlings of the league. In the wake of the Miami Heat superstar blockbuster trade that allowed for a ridiculous trio of James, Wade, and Bosh, where prima donna players suddenly decided they only wanted to play for big markets, the league is now desperately trying to provide a re-birth of the small market, to incentivize those fans to fill the stands, to give the owners a means of staying in the black, and to provide a reason for superstar players to remain in these lesser markets.
Disallowing the trade of Chris Paul to the Lakers demonstrates this point. The league was simply not going to allow the most obvious big market team in Los Angeles to continue to stack their deck. Paul on the Lakers essentially would have guaranteed their trip to the Finals, and perhaps a new Dynasty re-born.
Sure, ratings-wise, people will always argue that the Lakers will always be the darling as a Lakers-Heat finals would be a bigger ratings boost than a Thunder-Heat final. Normally, I'd agree, but not this season. The league would be perfectly content with a Thunder-Heat final, which essentially would gift the crown to the current MVP, and self-proclaimed king, Lebron James. The Thunder with all their brute force and raw talent might get through the Lakers and perhaps the Spurs, but won't stand a chance against the Heat, which is also what the league wants.
The league wants Lebron to have a ring. It wants to show that the little guy in the small market, ala the Thunder, can make it to the big dance, but once there, it'll be all Lebron. Remember when the Lakers were destroyed by the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals back in 2008? After experiencing the humility of that defeat, they went on to crush Orlando en route to a championship and then redemption against the Celtics the following year. They had to taste what it was like to lose at that stage, to have that bitter taste constantly as a reminder, which fueled them and motivated them to their dominance.
The Heat felt a similar blow in getting embarrassed by a shockingly good Dallas Mavericks team last year.
If this goes the way my conspiracy theory has it all scripted, then the Thunder would most assuredly be the next team in line for their hard lesson, while the ego-driven James finally gets his first ring.
The Lakers are not down and out, however. But the odds are against them. For them to win, they need the only player other than Kobe Bryant with the courage, strength, will, intensity, and perhaps most importantly, unpredictability, in Metta World Peace, to continue to do what he has been doing so admirably.
Know your enemy. Hardin and Perkins are bullies. Peace is not.
World Peace may have had his checkered past, but he has paid for it. How many times did Robert Downey, Jr. have to pay a harsh price for his past before he finally turned the corner to legitimize himself enough to become a superhero in the biggest Disney movie ever created?
Peace served his time as well, and has dedicated himself to a better cause. NBA players dream of the chance to wear a Championship ring some day. World Peace sacrificed to come to the Lakers to fulfill that dream as well, after struggling with himself for so long. After all his hard work and sacrifice, dedicating his life to volunteer work and noble causes, two seasons ago he finally got that ring that he had long-cherished, which players like Charles Barkley and Karl Malone were never able to obtain.
And you know what he did after World Peace got his first ring? He donated it to charity.
This is your enemy?
Somehow, I don't think James Harden and Kendrick Perkins, nor Lebron James, (nor Kobe), would ever give up their rings.
Maybe we should give World Peace a chance.
- Jeremy
Jeremy Howard is the Broker & President of Hpremiere Properties, (www.Hpremiere.com) a successful, progressive, modern real estate brokerage located in Southern California. With a separate background in the Film/Television industry, Jeremy has always had a passion for screenwriting, cinema, sports, and the arts, and finds a particular enjoyment and love in the escapism of theme parks.
