Metta World Peace Doesn’t Want To Play In NBA
By Mike Dyce
The Los Angeles Lakers used the amnesty clause on Metta World Peace and that has him hitting the free agent circuit if he clears the free agency waiver. But World Peace said he doesn’t want any NBA team to make a bid to pick him up off waivers.
“I don’t really want to play for anybody,” World Peace said Friday at the Lakers’ practice facility, via ESPN. “I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to go to China, or coach or play arena football.”
Apparently World Peace has been exploring the China option. He recently travelled to China and talked to several Chinese teams.
“You don’t live twice,” World Peace said. “You’re not 33 twice. You won’t be able to play in China at a good level again. I wouldn’t be able to play in China again averaging, maybe, 40 or more points. That would be fun.”
But do you really want to be 33 going to a league where you can dominate cause the league is inferior? Or do you want to play with and against the best of the best?
It could be a stunt to try and prevent teams from claiming him so he can have a say in where he lands by picking his team as a free agent.
“I had a chance to play in New York [in the past],” World Peace said. “I wanted to play in New York when I was in my prime and I was young, fierce, lock-down [defender]. Madison Square Garden, that would have been sick. But right now, China is way more adventurous for me.”
World Peace is rehabbing a knee injury and the shorter Chinese basketball season could help him.
“It’s a short season,” World Peace said. “Thirty-something games. I could show up when I want to show up.”
But I think it’s just to deter teams from claiming him.
“If one of these small-market teams picks him up, he won’t be happy with that,” his long time friend Jose Morales said. “He doesn’t want to play there.”