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Hey Mavs, TMZ Sports just found your next general manager -- METTA WORLD PEACE!!! We spoke with the former NBA star this week ... days after the Dallas Mavericks fired Nico Harrison, who was responsible for one of the worst trades in NBA history -- Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis. We started the conversation by asking for Metta's reaction to the firing ... but he caught us off-guard when he said he wanted to take Harrison's job!!
"The reason I say that is because I got so much experience," Metta said. "Running a basketball business would be fairly easy; running a sports business is fairly easy at the highest level, whether it's president or general manager. I'm running all operations."
Metta World Peace: And I think when you take a person like myself—who came from the streets—and you talk about the stories that were presented… Metta—Ron Artest at the time—from the hard streets of New York, tough-minded… What made me tough is things I wouldn’t wish on nobody. It didn’t come from going to private school. It didn’t come from learning real estate. It didn’t come from generational wealth. It came from generational struggle.
Jeff Teague: It’s a persona. Like the first couple times he made it, he was locking up, he was killing, strapping up. He probably did that for two or three seasons, and then it just became a thing: “Kobe plays defense.” But Tony Allen and them dudes played defense. So you think Kobe Bryant, who’s shooting 40 shots, is also out here playing defense? He was competitive. But that don’t mean he was locking up. That’s why they had Metta World Peace — ‘cause when the best players start cooking…"
Metta World Peace: People laughed at my quote with I said “at times” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is better than Michael Jordan. Explain this . Shai is 1st ballot and will get more than 3 rings.
People laughed at my quote with I said “at times” @shaiglalex is better than MJ.
— Coach Metta (@MettaWorld37) June 25, 2025
Explain this . Shai is 1st ballot and will get more than 3 rings. pic.twitter.com/i9zkq84VF5
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On the latest episode of the “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash, LeBron was asked who was the toughest defender he faced and he named World Peace as the player who really showed him what the NBA was all about in his early years: “Yeah, Ron Artest. Metta World Peace now. Really good with his hands, laterally was really good, strong as an ox. We played a game in my early years when he was in Indiana I mean, it was challenging for sure. One of the best defenders probably I’ve played against. I had to go straight back to my early days. Ron definitely had you like, OK this is what the league is about. OK, lets continue to lock in, this is a hell of a test for you as an 18-year old kid out of high school with a target on your back. I was like yeah, I love this. This is awesome.”
Mind the Game: That man @MettaWorld37 was really made of granite.
That man @MettaWorld37 was really made of granite. pic.twitter.com/WOQaMM2yBn
— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) June 17, 2025
Metta World Peace to Draymond Green on guarding LeBron James: And to your point on one-on-one, one of the reasons why it's so hard to guard LeBron because he's not only going one-on-one, even though he's a great one-on-one player. When I first started playing against LeBron, what really was killing me was that he was a team player. So, when he would move the ball, he would move it in the way where you had to shift, he was moving it to a good target where the defense was going to be all out of whack. So, not only was he doing that, he was also really good as a one-on-one player. So you can't help too much. Then when you closing out to him, that's a huge problem.
"Me and Ron had this thing at the time. I wasn't as educated about what he was going through, so I took it as him trying to derail what we were trying to do." "You're getting ready to talk about, 'I just want the two to get together'—I wasn't trying to hear that. Either you show up every day and give us what you need to give us so we can go win this game, or we got a problem." "That became a real thing in our locker room, really for the existence. I tried—'Man, come on out, let's go grab dinner. Let me figure it out.' But y’all know back then, if you said somebody was crazy or whatever, it was like a torn Achilles. Wasn't no 'mental health' back then. Definitely wasn't called that. Straight up." "So that became a little bit of a challenge for us. One thing we were really good at—when they threw the ball up, we just went and hooped. But then, when we stepped off that court, we went our separate ways. There was no real camaraderie. The team, it was—but me and Ron, it wasn't." "And in order to win a chip, your guys got to be guys. I try my best to look at it differently, but I'm already dealing with my own demon."
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Metta Sandiford-Artest doesn’t just want to talk about coaching — he wants to be in the seat. “Because I’m from New York,” he said when asked why he wants the Knicks job. “I have championships all around New York City from Rucker to Gun Hill, to Gershwin, to Soul In the Hole, to EBC, to Millbank, to Minisink, to Elmcor, to Far Rockaway… all over the city!”
Though he never suited up for the Knicks early in his career, he eventually joined the team at the tail end of his playing days. Now, he sees coaching the franchise as the next natural step. “There’s a couple places that I wanna coach: the Pacers, the Lakers, the Knicks, St. John’s, UCLA or USC or Cal-State LA,” he said. “The Knicks are probably the top two of all of ‘em.”
The franchise recently parted ways with Tom Thibodeau after a season that saw the Knicks reach the Eastern Conference Finals. For Sandiford-Artest, the move came as a surprise. “I love Thibbs. I think he did a great job, you know?” Sandiford-Artest told ScoopB.com. “I really didn’t have an opinion — I didn’t know. Honestly, I was on vacation so I didn’t know. Mainly, I love Thibbs for one; I didn’t see it coming. I think the Knicks played with him. I definitely saw things as I’m watching the game, but I thought Thibbs was great. I love Thibbs!”
TMZ Sports caught up with the former NBA star following the shocking firing of Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday ... and MWP explained he's dead serious about leading the N.Y. sidelines. "I would love the opportunity just to coach," the 45-year-old said. "I'm not interested in nothing else. I've been preparing for this." In fact ... Metta said he wasn't gonna wait by the phone for the Knicks to come calling -- he already notified the front office of his interest. "I sent messages everywhere," he added.