11/05/24
April 22, 2012
World Peace Ejected for Vicious Elbow: As he celebrated a fast break dunk, Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace inexplicably threw a vicious elbow into the head of Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden Sunday. Harden left the game with a possible concussion and the former Ron Artest was immediately ejected and likely will be suspended. "This was about as cheap as a cheap shot gets," said Ken Berger of CBS Sports. World Peace is the reigning holder of the NBA's citizenship award.
posted by rcade to basketball at 08:02 PM - 18 comments
That was ugly and that will likely result in a pretty big suspension.
Also, probably too early for the explosion, but this angle really does catch how his claim not to have seen Harden is pretty silly. Harden's left arm is on him well before he's following through.
posted by dfleming at 09:32 PM on April 22, 2012
World Peace did not check his swing.
If it had been unintentional, as he claimed afterwards, why was there no shock from him after his elbow found Harden's noggin? Normally when I accidentally decapitate somebody, I give them at least a "sorry my bad" shrug.
Crazy.
posted by rcade at 10:10 PM on April 22, 2012
Wow, that was brutal. At full speed I thought it was just a mistake but he definitely wanted to hit something. I just don't know why he would do that. It seems that Artest(it seems silly to call him World Peace in this context) + emotion is a very bad thing. In Ufez's link he's shepherding Bynum off the court, a very sensible thing to do. What a weird dude.
posted by tron7 at 10:56 PM on April 22, 2012
Harden clearly flopped.
But seriously, thank God the Lakers were playing at home. When Artest starts to scrunch up his shorts and gives Ibaka the crazy look, shit looked like it was about to go bananas.
posted by phaedon at 12:13 AM on April 23, 2012
He picked up his leg and brought it down during the arm swing so as to deliver more force to the blow. The leg action clearly shows the intent to hit and harm.
posted by beaverboard at 06:17 AM on April 23, 2012
The good news is, Harden was up and walking around so he's likely not going to miss a lot of time in spite of the concussion and the resulting evaluations that await him before he's cleared to play.
Artest has always let his emotions get the better of him and, as phaedon has stated. And Harden should've realized that nobody dares to stand too close to him when the stupid sauce takes effect. (To paraphrase an old cartoon)
posted by NerfballPro at 07:37 AM on April 23, 2012
Hopefully the suspension will mandate some type of anger management or psychological treatment. Artest is talented. Emotional meltdowns and cheap shots do not have to be part of his package.
posted by roberts at 07:38 AM on April 23, 2012
Harden clearly flopped.
Lets let Artest put an elbow in your head and see you flop about.
posted by sgtcookzane at 08:18 AM on April 23, 2012
Phaedon was kidding. Watch those elbows, sarge!
posted by rcade at 09:37 AM on April 23, 2012
I suppose my sarcasm radar needs calibration. In all seriousness, lets hope for the sake of competition Harden will be full strength for the playoffs.
posted by sgtcookzane at 11:09 AM on April 23, 2012
The NBA's Citizen of the Year. I sort of knew this honor would come back to bite the NBA in the ass. Everyone knows Meta Psycho World Peace was bound to relapse and go back to being the same Ron Artest he has always been. Tough guy, and a good player but he makes the Lakers and the League look bad. If this guy couldn't play basketball, what do you think he would be doing with his life? My guess is dead or in jail.
posted by Atheist at 12:26 PM on April 23, 2012
If this guy couldn't play basketball, what do you think he would be doing with his life?
posted by rcade at 12:38 PM on April 23, 2012
I heard he accidentally elbowed the DJ after dropping a particularly good verse.
... I'm just kidding, he's never dropped a particularly good verse.
posted by tron7 at 12:47 PM on April 23, 2012
If this guy couldn't play basketball, what do you think he would be doing with his life?
Clint Eastwood will tell you: he'd be the next Lee Van Cleef.
posted by beaverboard at 02:40 PM on April 23, 2012
Seven game suspension. Which means he would be back for a possible Thunder series.
posted by tron7 at 09:04 PM on April 24, 2012
Seven game suspension. Which means he would be back for a possible Thunder series.
If that happens, could the Thunder borrow an enforcer from an NHL team? 7 games is not nearly enough for that elbow. I've alternately been encouraged and discouraged by the NHL's policy on suspensions this year, but at least they seem to recognize the relative severity of fouls. (see Torres, Raffi) If 7 is the best the NBA can do in this case, then there could be some severe head hunting before long.
posted by Howard_T at 10:27 PM on April 24, 2012
there could be some severe head hunting before long.
The Lakers are probably looking at Denver in the first round, though the Mavs could nab the six-seed if Denver tanks their last two (Thunder and T-Wolves, both road games). Either team could give the Artest-less Lakers fits in the first round. Given this scenario, if the Lakers get to round two against the Thunder, they might have to rely on an "enforcer" if they're to make the conference finals.
The cheap shot tells me this: The Thunder have truly arrived, and the old guard is noticing.
posted by NerfballPro at 10:40 AM on April 25, 2012
Pitiful as Bynum's bullshit cheap shot against J.J. Barea in the playoffs last year. No way that wasn't intentional. Enjoy sitting on the bench in the playoffs, Ron.
"When you say 'Los Angeles Lakers', you're talking about excellence, you're talking about titles, you're talking about some of the greatest players ever to play, and for this game to end in this manner is a disgrace".