Metta World Peace
Patience is weapon. I learned that from my Laker days.Collection: Patience
Prodigy was definitely family... It definitely sucks not to have him here.
The panda is a funny, lovable animal, which defends its territory well. It's strong but calm. It suits me perfectly.
People who have followed my career still call me Ron, and that's OK; most of the young kids call me Metta, and then everyone in China calls me Panda. In the Middle East, they call me World Peace.
I don't want to play for any team. I prefer playing for a lower team and playing against the best. I don't like playing with them: I want to play against them... and beat them.
If it was up to me, I'd have everybody's jersey different. Each player would have their separate one. I think the game should be a joy, I think the game should be colorful.
I believe in order to coach, you've got to start at the ground level. The same way I learned how to play basketball.
It's weird, the evolution of a person. You understand yourself, you understand your surroundings. Then, when you understand who came before you, once you understand that about yourself and the energy that you came to this planet with, you understand more about yourself.
I continue to learn about myself, about my past, understanding energy between people, understanding my own energy, being healthy.
I remember I came into the NBA in 1999; the game was a little bit more rough. The game now is more for kids. It's not really a man's game anymore.
I want to go to China or coach or play arena football.
At 19 years old, when I came out of St. John's, I was fresh out the 'hood. I was fresh out of Queensbridge.
As far as the pros, people pay to come and see us, and I appreciate it because I'm able to take care of my family. So I don't really judge fans about what they say, good or bad.
When I guard LeBron, I used to always want him to shoot, but he would just make the right play. He's legendary for making the right play, and it's really hard to guard when you're a team player.
The thing about LeBron is he's very unselfish, right? So he can pass the ball.
When I was with the Bulls, I was very dysfunctional.
I'm not going to sugarcoat myself. For what?
For me, basketball was always about survival because I was just trying to get out the hood, right? When I got to Chicago, I'm like, 'I'm just trying to survive, and anybody I got to step on or break, so be it.'
To me, Omarosa, she's just a nice lady, a big sister that I really love.
With MJ and Kobe, what you get is you get people who is talking trash to you and backing it up.
I shake everybody's hand before the game, but Oklahoma City, they don't shake hands. Only some of them, but I don't think they really shake hands before the game.
I work hard. That's what people should know about me. I work hard. I eat right. I'm in the gym.
I always like to make some jokes, sometimes.
I know we had a lot of wars on the court. The Pistons - those were the roughest games I ever played in.
I don't care if I'm starting or sweeping the floors. You hear me? I want to win.
As I get older, I'm learning how to just play hard.
This media era is amazing. Twitter, Facebook, ESPN, news outlets everywhere.
Far Rockaway is like the New Orleans of New York.
I was top-10 once upon a time in this league, and I took a quick drop-off. Like, that's just not normal.
I'll just keep working hard and see where it takes me.
It's not all about becoming an NBA player; sometimes it's about becoming your best self and making the biggest impact you can make.
I just like to stay ready for whatever presents itself.
Sometimes it's good to be ready for the unpredictable. I'm glad that I can go through unpredictable situations. It's a good thing.
Metta World brings championship mentality. That's it. One thing. That's what I do.
Changing my name was meant to inspire and bring youth together all around the world.
I'm accustomed to playing basketball really rough. When I came into the league, I was used to fighting on the court. That's how I grew up playing basketball.
Earlier in my career, I just wanted to be an entertainer.
Of course there have been times when I've done crazy things. But I don't think I'm crazy. I just grew up in a crazy world.
I've totally sacrificed my ego. And what happens? God is giving me everything.
I got bullied so much at 11 and 12 that I became the bully. I didn't want to get bullied no more. And that just carried on through my life.
I spent a lot of my career fighting coaches. When coaches told me don't shoot, I'd shoot anyway.
I'm still ghetto. That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture.
Now I will bop my head to gangsta music - I'm not going to lie.
I'm from Queensbridge. It's the largest housing project in New York. And growing up in Queens, it was different because I wasn't really experienced in traveling to the City. I never really got used to the City.
It's hard to understand how you're feeling, or you don't even know. That's why sometimes people seek counseling.
I'm just happy that Jesus Christ, um, did not let me lose my teeth when I was 20 years old. 'Cause I was wondering, like, what if you kept your baby teeth until the age of 18 or 20, and then you lose 'em? That would look pretty bad.
I wish I would have listened, when I was a kid, to my elders or people who had my best interests at heart, and then I wish I would have been more conscious at that age also.
I'm not afraid to improve myself spiritually, emotionally, economically. I'm not afraid to take on that challenge.
I feel like I had a great career. Had some big games... I feel like I had a great time.
I feel like I let people know I'm not a toy.