It is 20 years since the Malice At The Palace brawl that saw Ron Artest banned for 86 games.
The most shocking scene in NBA history unfolded two decades ago when the Indiana Pacers visited the Detroit Pistons.
A fight broke out between players and fans, with the fuse lit when a cup was thrown at Pacers star Ron Artest.
Artest later changed his name to Metta World Peace, which he still describes as his ‘stage name’, although is currently legally now known as Metta Sandiford-Artest.
Metta World Peace has been reflecting on his career via an appearance on Byron Scott’s podcast, Fast Break.
The unavoidable topic was the Malice At The Palace, with the incident coming at a time when Ron Artest was playing the best basketball of his career, having been named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2004.
The infamous incident still stands out 20 years on, and he explains that he is now friends with the fan who threw the cup, Pistons fan John Green.
World Peace explained that he needed to reach out to self-heal, as he was still feeling bitterness from the incident.
He said: “I reached out because I was struggling mentally, because that year, there was a lot of accolades that was about to be mine, Defensive Player of the Year, all defensive team, another a bunch of them was gonna be mine that year. And so I went through a lot. I just, I couldn’t get over that.
“So then I go up to 273 pounds. I get back to the Pacers the next year, still kind of stressed from my from what happened, I get traded to Sacramento.”
He says he was considering retirement and fell out of love with the game, and was able to get right after forging a relationship with the Pistons fan.
“We got a friendship… still kicking with him today.”
Metta World Peace, still Ron Artest at the time, says he reached out to hold a conversation with John Green.
He explained: “I was still struggling with my career, so I said, you know, I’m just gonna patch up things and start to face things. So I reached out to him, found out, found his number. His wife answered the phone.
“I said, ‘Hey, this is Ron Artest. I want to speak to John Green’. And she said, Get the ____ out of here!”
“I said, ‘Let me tell you why I’m calling. I said, I think, like if me and John came together, I think we can make a difference in the world.
“So she said, John, Ron’s on the phone. This dude answered the phone. Hey, Ron, what’s up? Like, imagine that, right? Like, no, check. Like, you know me, yeah?
“So thar made me smile. I’m like, Yeah, this dude is crazy. Then I learned about his story, like he was going through a lot.”
The unlikely friendship played a part in Ron Artest self-correcting his mental and physical health, and re-discovering his love for the game.
He went on to play for the Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, and had two spells with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning his one and only NBA Championship in LA in 2010.
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