Amnesty of Metta World Peace Shows Los Angeles Lakers are Making Big Changes


It appears that Dwight Howard‘s decision to leave Hollywood isn’t the only big change for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason. It’s being widely reported on Monday night the Lakers will use their amnesty option on Metta World Peace (we’ll call him by his real name, Ron Artest, from now on), so the colorful, troubled small forward will once again be a free agent.

The big factor with this news is the Lakers will not use their amnesty option on Kobe Bryant or Pau Gasol, although those were safe assumptions when Howard chickened out on the L.A. spotlight, for which he was called out by Shaquille O’Neal. Of course, no one really expected the Lakers to amnesty Kobe, but it was widely thought among Laker Nation that fate might await Gasol. However, it was Ron-Ron who got the boot.

Many knowledgeable Laker minds will tell you that the 2012-13 NBA season was Artest’s best in Los Angeles and that’s not a farfetched statement, but now it’s clear the Lake Show was simply making room for Chris Kaman by waiving the man with the goofy name. Of course, Artest is only 33 and still a top-notch NBA defender, so some desperate team willing to put up with his unique personality (that’s putting it very politely) will sign him in no time.


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