Metta Sandiford-Artest

Metta Sandiford-Artest (born Ronald William Artest Jr.; November 13, 1979), previously legally named Metta World Peace, is an American former professional basketball player who played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Under the name Ron Artest, he played college basketball for the St. John's Red Storm.

Metta Sandiford-Artest was born Ronald William Artest Jr. on November 13, 1979, and raised in the Queensbridge projects in Long Island City, Queens, New York.

He has two younger brothers, Isaiah and Daniel.

He played high school basketball at La Salle Academy.

He also teamed with future NBA players Elton Brand and Lamar Odom on the same Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team.

Growing up, Artest witnessed the killing of a fellow player, 19-year-old Lloyd Newton, on a basketball court in Niagara Falls, New York, during an altercation at a 1991 YMCA-sanctioned basketball tournament.

Artest played college basketball at St. John's University from 1997 to 1999.

At St. John's, he majored in mathematics.

He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 1999 NBA draft.

In 1999, he led the Red Storm to a 14-4 record in the Big East Conference and 28-9 overall and the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division I Tournament, losing to Ohio State.

Artest was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th pick of the 1999 NBA draft.

Artest played a total of 175 games for the Bulls over 2 1⁄2 years, the bulk as a starter, during which time he averaged about 12.5 points and just over four rebounds per game.

He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in the 1999–2000 season.

In 2001, he signed with the Indiana Pacers, where he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award and was also named an NBA All-Star in 2004.

Midway through the 2001–02 season, Artest was traded by Chicago to the Indiana Pacers along with Ron Mercer, Brad Miller, and Kevin Ollie, for Jalen Rose, Travis Best, Norman Richardson, and a second-round draft pick.

On January 27, 2003, Artest got into a verbal altercation with Miami Heat head coach Pat Riley and flashed an obscene gesture into the crowd and was suspended for four games.

During the 2003–04 season with the Pacers, he averaged 18.3 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, and 3.7 assists per game.

Later that year, he was involved in a fight between the Pacers and the Detroit Pistons, and was suspended for the remainder of the 2004–05 season.

Artest made the 2004 NBA All-Star Game as a reserve and was named the Defensive Player of the Year.

He wore three jersey numbers for the Pacers: 15, 23, and 91.

On November 19, 2004, Artest was at the center of an altercation among players and fans during a game in Auburn Hills, Michigan, between Artest's Pacers and the home team Detroit Pistons.

The brawl involved Artest, Pistons center Ben Wallace, Artest's teammates Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson, several other players, and spectators including Pistons fans John Green and A.J. Shackleford.

The fight resulted in the game being stopped with less than a minute remaining.

O'Neal, Jackson, and Wallace were suspended indefinitely the day after the game.

A day later, the NBA suspended Artest for the rest of the regular season, plus any playoff games.

Artest missed 86 games, the longest suspension for an on-court incident in NBA history.

Weeks after the start of the 2005–06 season, he was traded to the Sacramento Kings, and spent the 2008–09 season with the Houston Rockets.

After playing 16 games early in the 2005–06 season, Artest demanded a trade from the Indiana Pacers, and he was placed on the team's inactive roster.

Artest's call for a trade created a rift between him and his teammates.

"We felt betrayed, a little disrespected," teammate Jermaine O'Neal said.

As for their basketball relationship, O'Neal added: "The business relationship is over. That's fact."

Pacers president Larry Bird said he also felt "betrayed" and "disappointed."

On January 24, 2006, reports from NBA sources confirmed that the Sacramento Kings had agreed to trade Peja Stojaković to the Pacers for Artest.

However, before the trade could be completed, many press outlets reported that Artest had informed team management that he did not want to go to the Kings.

According to Artest's agent, his original trade request was only made because he was upset when he heard rumors that the Pacers were going to trade him to the Kings for Stojaković early in the season.

In 2009, he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, and helped the team win the NBA championship in 2010.

Artest recalled the incident during an interview in 2009: "I remember one time, one of my friends, he was playing basketball and they were winning the game. It was so competitive, they broke a leg from a table and they threw it and it went right through his heart and he died right on the court. So I'm accustomed playing basketball really rough."

In 2011, Artest legally changed his name to Metta World Peace, and continued to play with the Lakers until 2013, where he signed with the New York Knicks.

After a year of hiatus from the NBA, he returned to the Lakers for his final seasons in 2015 before retiring in 2017.