Metta World Peace had a highly adventurous career which saw him play against and with some of the game’s greatest. As a 19-year-old, he already had the opportunity to practice against the great Michael Jordan, and Artest returned with more than just that. During a recent appearance on FanDuel, the former Lakers star claimed that he once broke two of Michael Jordan’s ribs, while playing against him in a practice game.
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How the injury took place meant that Artest himself was left utterly depressed, and did not get out of bed due to guilt, for several days. It all happened during a session which also included a 15-year-old LeBron James, alongside some other NBA stars.
Claiming to be super-competitive back then, Metta World Peace said that people still did not know what he was capable of bringing to games. That was aggressive defense and high physicality, which led to an unfortunate situation.
“Michael was just posting me up, he had referees and everything. So he was posting me up on the left block and as I was denying him, Michael put his harms and hold you. When Michael hold you, you can’t get around,” he said, before revealing how it was MJ who had initially made an offensive foul.
“And one of the issues with Mike, if you let him touch the ball he gonna score. So those games were super competitive. I moved his arm out of the way. He actually got called for offensive foul,” he claimed.
However, Artest ended up ramming his elbow into Jordan’s chest. This led to two of his ribs breaking, leaving the then-youngster utterly guilty.
“Then I hit him with my right elbow went into his ribs, and when I found out I broke his[Michael Jordan] ribs, I didn’t get out of bed for two days, I couldn’t go to practice,” he said.
The result was that he did not show up for the practice sessions for a couple of days. World Peace simply told people that he would not go to the gym, as he had broken none other than the GOAT’s ribs. However, things were back to normal once Jordan himself called the player.
“And then Mike called me, Mike was like, it’s alright, it happens, I want you to keep coming back to the gym,” World Peace revealed.
That, obviously, proved enough for Artest to stop moping, and simply return to practice. Still, the youngster would have been wary of MJ on the court, whenever they met, from that moment on. No doubt, it might have been a tough couple of days for the youngster after being the reason behind hurting the GOAT physically.
Being drafted by the Bulls in 1999, Artest never had a chance to play with the legend himself on the same team, however, he does have a couple of memories facing MJ in his career. It is always heartwarming to hear such stories of respect from the generation after the great era of Michael Jordan.
Metta World Peace proclaimed Michael Jordan as the toughest
The same interview also saw Artest being asked about the kind of difficulties he faced while playing against MJ. The former Bulls player replied that Jordan was simply the toughest player he had ever been against.
Making the comparison with suspected GOATs LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, Artest claimed that MJ’s spacing and balance set him apart.
“Mike is definitely the toughest. He wasn’t as fast as LeBron, don’t jump as high, not as strong, LeBron was something different, and Kobe also brings something different, very similar to Mike. He is gonna be on balance, good space, definitely the toughest I have faced, for sure.”
Hence, while the player appreciated the similarities between MJ and Kobe, for him, guarding the 6-time Champion was the toughest job he was asked to do, as a defender.
