Los Angeles Lakers: 10 best small forwards in team history
By Amaar Burton
10. Metta World Peace (2009-13, 2015-17)
Formerly an enemy of the Los Angeles Lakers, Metta World Peace, a.k.a. Ron Artest, left the Houston Rockets in 2009 — with whom he’d engaged in some memorable battles with Kobe Bryant — and signed with the defending champion Lakers.
In his first season in L.A., Metta helped Kobe and the Lakers repeat as champions.
Metta then produced one of his greatest contributions to the franchise and to sports in general: The song “Champions,” which is good on its own, but basically a hip-hop classic by athlete-turned-rapper standards.
On the court, Metta’s big moment as a Laker was the 3-point dagger he hit in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals.
In typical Metta fashion, however, he is also remembered for the incident when he leveled James Harden with a vicious elbow that knocked Harden out and drew a seven-game suspension.
Metta averaged 9.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals for the Lakers and served as their go-to perimeter defensive specialist before leaving in 2013 to sign with his hometown New York Knicks.
He returned to L.A. in 2015 to wrap up his career as a little-used role player.