Young NBA players can get it rough sometimes, especially when you have guys like Metta World Peace across your team. Just hear it from recently retired Gordon Hayward who talks about a memorable moment with the artist formerly known as Ron Artest.
During a podcast appearance at The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, Hayward recalls a hilarious moment he had with Artest during his early years in the league. His story comes after describing a common scouting report on white players, which is to go at them all game through isolation plays, drawing a laugh from the hosts.
“Maybe it was my face and hair and everything, but we played the Lakers, I think it was preseason, one of the years,” Hayward said.
“They have Ron Artest, and I checked in the game, and he, like, looks at me, and then looks back at Kobe, and looks at me, and he's like, ‘Hey Kob,' and he's pointing at me like, ‘Just throw me the ball in the post, man. Look who's guarding me. I got Bieber guarding me.'”
“Sure enough, you know, he just posted me up,” he added amid laughs from Le Batard. “Ron Artest was really good, and I was like, I had no chance guarding him.”
Gordon Hayward's NBA career
Amid the teasing from Dan Le Batard and Stugotz about being compared to Justin Bieber, Hayward said, smiling, “I mean, what can you do? At that point, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna say to Ron Artest, you know what I mean? Like I was definitely trying not to fight that guy.”
This preseason game should have happened a few years since the infamous Malice at the Palace, a nationally televised melee that derailed the Indiana Pacers' best chance to win an NBA title. The league suspended Artest for the remainder of the season, costing the Pacers a valuable piece in the playoffs, as they lost a tenacious defensive presence who can put the ball in the hoop when he wants to.
While he changed his ways, Artest also changed his name to Metta World Peace. After winning the 2010 Finals with the Lakers, Artest still kept his reputation as one of the toughest guys in the NBA. It's understandable for Hayward to react the way he did, but still, it was a hilarious “Welcome to the NBA” moment for the young star.
After 14 seasons, Gordon Hayward retired from the NBA during this offseason. The Utah Jazz selected Hayward ninth overall in the 2010 NBA Draft, and he spent seven seasons there before signing with the Boston Celtics in 2017. He had hoped to contribute to the Celtics' championship hopes but an injury ended his first season there before it could get started, though he spent three years with the team. Afterward, he played three more seasons with the Charlotte Hornets before playing his final 26 games with the Oklahoma City Thunder after they acquired him in a trade.
Follow Us
Subscribe