Metta World Peace doesn't call in for morning legal hearing because it was too early: Report

It seems like Metta World Peace really hasn't got the hang of this whole bi-coastal thing down pat yet — and may have to pay for it.

The kooky former Knick and Laker forward, previously known as Ron Artest, was not at a hearing in Manhattan Family Court Thursday, where his ex is fighting for him to pay private high school tuition for their 13-year-old son.

His lawyer, Elisabeth Vreeburg, said that it was 7 a.m. in California and that he “wasn’t able to be in a place where he could call in” for the hearing.

The 34-year-old World Peace was not sanctioned for his absence and there is not yet a ruling on whether sleepyhead can have the case transferred to Queens, his native borough.

A lawyer for his son’s mother, Jennifer Palma, say the request is a delay tactic, an attempt for the athlete to get out of paying their son’s $38,355-per-year high school tuition at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn.

She filed a lawsuit against the basketball veteran in April, claiming he verbally agreed to pay the pricey prep school bill at the school he attended as an eighth-grader.

This guy never makes anything easy, does he?

Check out what Metta World Peace wears to bed (PHOTO)

The Knicks forward posted this photo before saying "nighty-night" in his Cookie Monster PJs.

Please come back to the NBA Ron Artest.

Goodnight pic.twitter.com/2pAv4l1Vp2
— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorldPeace) January 18, 2014

James Dolan guarantees Knicks win onstage with band

The New York Knicks were wailing the blues after getting blown out by the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday afternoon, but that didn't stop the team's owner from singing a happy tune later that evening.

James Dolan tried to keep everything about the music on Sunday night as his band JD and the Straight Shot performed inside The Cutting Room, but couldn't help a few comments about his teams inside Madison Square Garden a few blocks away.

"Thanks to the Rangers who brought me a win," Dolan said on the nightclub's stage.

"Unfortunately the basketball (team) couldn't do it today. We're going to win the next game, that's a guarantee."

The frontman for the blues and classic rock band didn't even mention his team by name.

After hearing that The Boss had guaranteed a Knicks’ victory, after he sat through their 31-point blowout loss to the Spurs, Carmelo Anthony knows that the pressure is on.

"I guess we’ve got to win," Anthony said Monday when asked by the N.Y. Daily News about Dolan’s boast. "The owner said it. I guess we got to make it happen. We want to win. If he said it, he’s put the pressure on us to go out there and win the game."

The 2-and-4 Knicks square off against the Hawks on Wednesday night.

Knicks forward Metta World Peace and Rangers GM Glen Sather were among the notables in attendance at the midtown club.

Dolan might end up singing "My Knicks' Defense Is So Cold, It Must Be Next To My Ex's Heart" Wednesday night.

Watch: Fan's horrified look after Metta World Peace's crotch lands in his face (GIF)

NBA fans sit in the courtside seats so they can get close to the action. And sometimes you get more than you bargained for — as this Justin Bieber lookalike found out Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

It may have only been the Knicks last pre-season game but that didn't stop Metta World Peace from flying into the seats after a loose ball like it was the playoffs. It wasn’t so much of World Peace’s effort that catches our eye as was the reaction of the fan who got the full force of MWP's crotch in his face.

As MWP dove for the ball, he attempted to leap over the young man, but couldn’t completely clear him, leaving him face-deep in the NBA star's groin area. And, as you can see by the fan's horrified look, maybe the nosebleed section isn't so bad after all.

At least he won't have to waste a napkin to wipe his face.

Metta World Peace: 'The Lakers are going to the NBA Finals'

If you believe Metta World Peace he hasn't been paying too much attention to the war of words between the Knicks and Nets this offseason and it sounds like the former Lakers player harbors no ill feelings towards his old team either.

World Peace signed with the Knicks after he was waived by the Lakers via the amnesty clause. He won a championship with the Lakers in 2010, and surprisingly believes his former team is poised to make another title run.

"I think Kobe [Bryant] is going to be healthy, they're going to have Pau [Gasol], the Lakers are going to make a big trade like they always do . . . and they're going to go to the Finals," World Peace said at a signing for his children's book, "Metta's Bedtime Stories," in TriBeCa.

As for the Knicks' competition in the Eastern Conference, World Peace was underwhelmed. But conceded that the two-time defending champion Heat is "pretty good."

"I think all those teams are good, but I think the Knicks are going to be great," World Peace said.

Regarding all of the summer yammering between the two New York teams, the Queens native sounded hungry for more than just coffee talk.

"I don't have no energy to go back and forth with words because there's just too many great things happening in New York City," said World Peace, who signed a two-year deal with the Knicks in July. "I just want apple pie. I don't feel like talking. I want to go to Whole Foods and enjoy my Whole Foods."

The Nets' acquisition of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry in a blockbuster trade with the Celtics shook up the basketball world. But World Peace claims he has barely paid attention.

"Honestly, I don't even know who's on their team," World Peace said. "I'm not going to lie. I'm just happy to be a Knick."

World Peace could start at small forward alongside Carmelo Anthony or come off the bench. He noted that every time in his career he was assigned a reserve role, he eventually was moved to the starting lineup.

"I don't have an issue with coming off the bench. I've been starting for 15 years, so it should be somebody else's chance to start," World Peace said. "I could have gone to any other team I wanted to and started. I got calls from Oklahoma and the Clippers and all these teams. But I came here and it wasn't to start, it was to win a ring."

Metta World Peace wants fans to pick new nickname

After word spread around the Internet that Metta World Peace might be changing his name again ahead of playing for the Knicks next season, the former St. John's star — where he was known as Ron Artest — took to his Twitter account to squash the idea.

“Don’t believe anyone who said I’m changing my name again,” World Peace tweeted. “I am letting fans give me a new nickname. I am not legally changing my name.”

Don't believe anyone who said I'm changing my name again. I am letting fans give me a new nick name. I am not legally changing my name.
— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorldPeace) July 26, 2013

World Peace also said he will be picking a nickname a fan suggests in a couple of weeks, and that fans could tell him what nickname by going to his website.

And, so far,  it sounds as if MWP likes what's what he's hearing.

I love the nicknames that's coming . Keep them coming!!!;)
— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorldPeace) July 27, 2013

World Peace is making his return to New York this fall as a member of the Knicks after agreeing to a two-year deal — the second year a player option — shortly after being amnestied by the Lakers this month.

How about The Artest Formally Known As Peace?

Metta's dad wants son to finish career with Knicks

Ron Artest Sr. is hoping if his son, Metta World Peace, is waived today by the Los Angeles Lakers via the amnesty rule, he will attempt to finish his career with the Knicks.

Even though World Peace is seriously considering retiring instead of finishing his NBA career anywhere but L.A., Senior is hopeful his son will return to the city where he played his high school and college ball as Ron Artest.

Artest Sr. told The New York Post his son’s strong preference is to remain with the Lakers and he may decide to end his career instead of signing with the Knicks, because he does not want to uproot his kids in Los Angeles.

The Lakers intend to waive World Peace, according to reports. Subsequent reports stated no decision had been made. Kobe Bryant took to twitter Monday night, stating the club should keep World Peace and try to win a title with what they have.

If Metta World Peace becomes a free agent, his father, Ron Artest Sr., would love to see the Queens product sign with the hometown Knicks as the last stop in his NBA career.

Earlier in the day, Artest Sr. said, “He wants to stay with the Lakers for a couple of more years but if not, he wants to finish his career in New York if he can. This would be full circle.

By last night, the son was having a change of heart, feeling retirement would be best.

“I know he said he doesn’t want to play with a team like Milwaukee or Minnesota,’’ Artest Sr. said.

The Knicks are in search of a defensive small forward off the free-agent market and World Peace is intriguing to then. The Queensbridge product would seek the $1.4 million veteran’s minimum, which is basically what the Knicks have to offer. (They also have the remaining $1.7 million left of their mini mid-level.)

Artest Sr. said he still was hoping his son doesn’t retire and comes home.

“Let’s hope and pray it happens,’’ Artest Sr. said.

Knicks fans still haven't forgiven the team for passing on the former St. John's star with their first-round pick to select French center Frederic Weis in 1999. Artest/World Peace went on to a spectacular — if not somewhat controversial — career in the NBA, while the Frenchman never even set foot on Seventh Avenue.

The Lakers would save a good deal in salary and luxury tax, as World Peace is scheduled to making $7.7 million in his final season.

The Knicks and Brooklyn Nets would not get first crack at World Peace; teams under the cap would be eligible to bid on him first.

Metta World Peace doesn't like how Nets represent Brooklyn

Metta World Peace was happy to hear that Reggie Evans was fined $5,000 for flopping — and went on Twitter to praise the NBA's new rules which punish players for embellished contact — but had some harsh words for the Brooklyn Nets — particularly Evans and Gerald Wallace for how they are representing the borough.

World Peace wasn't thrilled after both players committed questionable flops when the forward had the ball during Tuesday night's Lakers' 95-90 victory over the new Brooklynites  W.P. was even more incensed to find out Wallace wasn't $5,000 lighter as well.

On Wednesday morning the Queens native tweeted:

"What was the best flop tonight? Out of three? I am so happy the NBA charges $5,000 for flopping," he posted.  "The two Gerald Wallace flops were crazy. . . lol  I am on the court like, 'What in the world.!! ...The refs did a good job on the Gerald Wallace flops. ...but they missed the Reggie Evans flop. . . I can see overseas players

"You cannot flop and play for Brooklyn.!!!," he continued.  "Brooklyn equals red bricks, streets, the gutter, Marcy, soul in the hole, Gershwin Park, etc. ..."




Evans was the first player fined by the NBA for flopping after his exaggerated contact with a World Peace shove while running up the court during the third quarter of Tuesday's game.  After Evans stumbled into the bench, Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni yelled at the referee, "It's a flop."

World Peace was called for a foul on the play, but the NBA reacted later and fined Evans the five large for his second blatant flop — he was warned last week against the Celtics — this season.

The Lakers forward doesn't exactly have a stellar history with NBA disciplinarians but, this time, it looks like World Peace and the league agree on something.

Conan O'Brien parodies no-show Metta World Peace during monologue

Metta World Peace cancelled an appearance on the Conan O'Brien Show Tuesday night, so the late night host did what any self-respecting comedian would do when someone throws your production into complete chaos— and they can't retaliate— make fun of the guilty party.

In his monologue, O'Brien announced that World Peace wouldn't be on the show as announced because he's "in a lot of trouble."

The Los Angeles Lakers forward was suspended for his flagrant elbow to the head of Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden Sunday night and suspended for seven games.

The usually ubiquitous World Peace is probably just keeping a low profile.

O'Brien joked about the basketball player's rough hit, "It's not hockey.  You're not allowed to do that" and added, "He missed a a chance to be on my show... that's a career ender."

The the comedian then went on to show a video clip of a similar elbowing incident he had with his co-host Andy Richter while doing a previous monologue.



The last minute cancellation forced Conan's people to scramble and fill in the guest spot.  World Peace was replaced by actor Simon Helberg who plays nerd Howard Wolowitz on "The Big Bang Theory."

No chance of getting a shot in the head from that guy.

"Metta World Peace" to Lakers: "You Can Still Call Me Ron"

He might have legally changed his name to Metta World Peace, but the Los Angeles Lakers forward told his teammates he will still answer to the name of Ron.

The former-Ron Artest said, "I really don't have a preference" about what you call him at a Lakers shootaround.

He even smiled when someone called him "Queensbridge" at a press conference yesterday.

If you aren't from New York City, the Queensbridge projects are the former- St. John's basketball star's old stomping grounds and some of the toughest streets in the city.

World Peace was very busy during the NBA lockout auctioning off his championship ring for 500+K and donating the proceeds to mental health organizations, PETA and children's charities.

At a recent Lakers' game against the Utah Jazz, fans at the Staples Center chanted, "We Want World Peace" while the former-Ron Artest sat on the bench.

That seemed to be music to the New Yorker's ears.

"I think I accomplished a lot already," he said.  "Changing lives."

People in the media are still getting used to the revised name and even his new coach Mike Brown admitted it's not in the Lakers' vocabulary yet.

"I try to call him Metta more than anyone else," the coach said.  "And then you hear Steve Blake say, 'Hey Ron' or Kobe say 'Hey Ron-Ron' and it throws me off.  I'm trying, but no one's helping me."

It's doesn't matter what he is calling himself these days because when the former-Redmen star steps onto the streets of New York, he's still Ron Artest from Queens.