Metta World Peace Had A Lot of Self-Doubt on the Lakers
He doubted his basketball skills.
Before Metta World Peace joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009-10, he was one of the Houston Rockets’ top options.
He averaged 17.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game, helping them win 53 games in 2008-09. As a result, he was an All-Defensive player and was fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
He also helped them make it to the semifinals in the playoffs, where they took the defending champions, the Lakers, to 7 games (however, they lost the series).
World Peace was a top dog and he was a good one, too.
But when he joined the Lakers the following season, his role on the team changed because he was now playing alongside Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and a young Andrew Bynum.
He was no longer a top 3 option and was relegated to a 3-and-D role. He went from being one of the main guys on offence to being a role player, where he shot 5.4 fewer shots per game.
Oh, and he was getting paid way, way less than what he was worth.
This messed with him mentally throughout the season as it caused him to doubt his abilities.
“I left a lot of money on the table,” World Peace said on the Valuetainment podcast. “It’s definitely worth it, for sure, because I learned so much about myself. I learned that I can overcome adversity. You know, you’re thinking about your cheque. Oh, not only the money -that’s one piece. But the other piece is you’re only averaging 6.9 points. You see, your ego. That’s going from where you were in your prime.”
World Peace also said he had to keep track of his performance whenever Kobe didn’t play so he could reassure himself that he was still a good basketball player.
“So, and keep in mind, every time Kobe didn’t play, in my first stint with the Lakers, I was averaging 18.9. I had to tally it up myself because I had to reassure I was still pretty good because I was having doubt.”
Despite his numbers dropping, World Peace was a crucial player for the Lakers.
He was L.A.’s primary 3-and-D guy and was tasked with slowing down (or at times, stopping) the opponent’s best player.
He averaged 1.4 steals per game and led the team with 1.4 made threes per game in the regular season.
In the playoffs, he led the Lakers with 1.5 steals and made the second-most threes with 1.5, helping them run through the Western Conference before defeating the Boston Celtics in 7 games in the NBA Finals.
He also won his first NBA title this season.
World Peace spent the majority of the remainder of his career with the Lakers.
He played in L.A. for another 3 seasons before playing with New York and in China.
After those two seasons, he returned to L.A., where he played for another two seasons before retiring in 2017.
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