The Season of Peace

How freakin awesome is it that a whole season stretches out before us, a championship hanging in the balance, and the one man who can really tip the scales is Metta World Peace?
... before I continue...
Yeah, he's not the best player.
And no, I'm not saying that he's the guy to take over big playoff games.
BUT, if he's consistently good, the Lakers could be bringing Larry O'Brien back to LA.
Why? because at his best World Peace is a hype man; somebody that always gets the team up and going for the big games,
He's the biggest wild card in the NBA right now; hard to prepare for.
Who can predict if he'll come up with a crucial rebound or hang around the perimeter? If he'll hit the open three when it's given to him or just chuck it up? If he'll masterfully get inside the head of whoever he wants, OR just distract himself in the process?
Sure he looks blockier each year as his career drags on (this'll be his 14th season) and he moves more and more like he's straight out of NBA Live 2003 on the original Playstation, but he still finds a way to be effective.
We know what we're getting from the Spurs, the Thunder will be the same or just a little bit better, and the Heat added Ray Allen but we know what he brings. The Lakers have the most questions of any title contender, and if World Peace can contribute consistently he will boost LA tremendously.
Last season World Peace averaged 7.7 points, just fewer than the number of jerseys you'd have if you collected one of each of his constantly-changing uniforms (another example of his unpredictability). That 7.7 was a career-low, and far below his career average of 14.2, and he was below his career average in almost every statistical category.
This year, however, World Peace will be playing alongside Lakers' all-star additions Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, and Antawn Jamison, and that could either motivate him or see him get lost in the shuffle; an eighth man with no plays run for him on the offensive end and lengthy pine rides.
That being said, I would bet on a World Peace who believes. When he says he thinks the Lakers could win 73 games to surpass the all-time record he's exaggerating, but it shows how high he is on this team, and a championship-minded Metta could turn the tides of a game at any moment.
‘I think people still have to go through the Lake Show. I think everything goes through the Lake Show," he explained.
"With the way the Lakers are looking this year, I don’t see anybody getting past us this year at all."
You can believe him, or you can say he's just talking. And I wouldn't blame you. After all, he went on to say: "I saw Jamison today and people forget that he is one of the best offensive rebounders in the game, he has the best touch out of everybody in the NBA, he has the best touch out of all the big men in the game."
So maybe Metta has a penchant for extra extrapolation, but that's what makes the game so fun for him and for us as he rides out the bucking rhino of his career.

 

Art by Devin Gray (me)

Reggie Miller enters the Hall of Fame

The marquee entrant to this years' Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame class was Reggie Miller, who last night made his speech in front of his peers and former rivals. It was short but sweet, and well-said. The most genuine moment was after Reggie said the top three players all time were Jordan, Magic and his sister Cheryl, and he almost lost it thanking his sister who "grew up across the hallway." One of the most clutch players in NBA history he once scored eight points in nine seconds, held his own in the Jordan-era Central division and led the NBA in career three-pointers made until he was surpassed by Ray Allen. Though he never even made the second team All-NBA, Reggie's a Hall-of-Famer, a testament to his legacy.