Metta World Peace: I learned how to cook crack at 13
By Tom West
In a recent interview, Metta World Peace opened up about his difficult past and how he learned to cook crack at just 13 years old.
Metta World Peace has long been one of the more interesting characters in the NBA. From the fights in his earlier days to the name changes from Ron Artest, he’s been a unique guy and a successful one at that. Before he entered the NBA in 1999 and had his only All-Star season and Defensive Player of the Year award in 2003-04, his upbringing was difficult, to say the least.
He opened up about some of what he endured in a recent interview on ESPN’s Highly Questionable, discussing how he was “interested in different things” and started cooking crack at just 13 years old.
“I was never rebellious but I was always interested in different things. You know, I learned how to cook crack at the age of 13. So, that was something I’m not proud of, obviously, but it was just something that was introduced to me at an early age.”
He then went on to talk about his bother.
“I got away from that [crack], my brother continued with it and did 10 years in jail,” Metta said. He also discussed a friend of his, capable of getting A’s in school, who decided to continue selling crack before being murdered.
And when asked again as to how he felt about being involved in such circumstances with drugs, Metta simply said “at that time it was normal… At that time, you see the money transaction, it was like, ‘Oh, wow! I can make 10 dollars real quick’. ‘I can make 100 dollars today.’ At that time, it was like, ‘Oh, wow, if I can get that money I can buy some sneakers.'”
Not only do you have to respect Metta World Peace’s honesty to so openly talk about his past, but his rise to escape that upbringing and find success in the NBA is nothing short of admirable either. He was one of the league’s best defenders for years through the 2000s, he averaged 18.5 points per game from 2004-2009, and won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010.
He’s certainly quite the success story.
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