Ron Artest

Metta Santiford-Artest, formerly known as Ron Artest, is a former basketball player, who later became a basketball coach. He played in the National Basketball Association. In 2010, he became an NBA Championship alongside the Los Angeles Lakers.

Player Profile and Personal Life

Metta Sandiford-Artest (born Ronald William Artest Jr.) was born on November 13, 1979, in Queens, New York in the United States. He stands 201 cm tall and his weight was last listed at 118 kg.

Artest was born and raised in Queens, New York, and has 2 younger brothers named Isaiah and Daniel.

Formerly known as Ronald William Artest, he changed to Metta World Peace (2011) then to The Panda's Friend (~2014) and Metta Saniford-Artest (2020).

College Career

When he was in high school at La Salle Academy, he started playing basketball and continued until college in St. John’s Red Storm. Sandiford-Artest is now married to Maya Sandiford and has his own company called The Artest Management Group.

Professional Career

Artest decided to join the league during the 1999 NBA Draft and he was selected by the Chicago Bulls.

He played with the Bulls for 175 games from 1999 to 2002, and he has a career average of 12.5 points with 4 rebounds per game. During the 1999-2000 season, he was hailed to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

In 2002, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers and got controversial after getting involved in a verbal altercation with Pat Riley. As a result, he was punished with a 4-game suspension.

In 2006, he was traded to the Sacramento Kings and stayed there for 2 years. Many thought that his teammates would fear his abrasive and assertive personality, but they ended up getting along well with each other. From his transfer to the Kings, he helped them achieve the team’s best run for the season, which was 14-5 runs.

In 2008, he was traded to the Houston Rockets and Yao Ming commented that he was hoping that Artest wouldn’t put himself in trouble instead, to which he responded that he would remain a ghetto.

In 2009, he had his first championship when he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and he signed a $33 million contract with them.

From 2014 until his retirement in 2017, he played for the Sichuan Blue Wales, Pallaceanestro Cantu, and the Lakers. From 2017 to 2018, he worked in player development for the South Bay Lakers.

Career Highlights

• 2010 - NBA champion
• 2004 - NBA All-Star
• 2004 - All-NBA Third Team
• 2004 - NBA Defensive Player of the Year
• 2004, 2006 - NBA All-Defensive First Team
• 2003, 2009 - NBA All-Defensive Second Team
• 2000 - NBA All-Rookie Second Team
• 1999 - Third-team All-American – AP, NABC
• 1999 - Haggerty Award
• 1999 - First-team All-Big East
• 1997 - Second-team Parade All-American
• 1997 - McDonald's All-American

Career NBA Statistics

• Points - 13,058 (13.2 ppg)
• Rebounds - 4,448 (4.5 rpg)
• Assists - 2,631 (2.7 apg)

Team History:

As a coach:

• 2017–2018 - South Bay Lakers (player development)