Born: November 13, 1979
Birthplace:
Queens, NY
Zodiac Sign:
Scorpio
Metta World Peace (born
Ronald William Artest Jr.) is an American professional basketball coach and
former player.
He is the player development
coach for the South Bay Lakers of the NBA G League. He was known as Ron Artest
before legally changing his name in September 2011.
World Peace gained a
reputation as one of the league's premier defenders as he won the NBA Defensive
Player of the Year Award in 2004 when he was named an NBA All-Star and earned
All-NBA honors.
He took part in several
controversial on-court incidents, most notably the Malice at the Palace, and is
known for his sometimes eccentric and outspoken behavior. He won an NBA
championship in 2010 as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Artest played high school
basketball at La Salle Academy and college basketball at St. John's University.
He has played for six teams in the NBA.
World Peace was a player
development coach in 2017–18 for the South Bay Lakers, the Los Angeles Lakers'
development-league team in the G League.
During the offseason in 2018,
he played 3x3 basketball with the BIG3. He played under the name Ron Artest at
the request of league co-founder Ice Cube, who wanted to "turn back the
clock a little bit."