“In his way, Artest — nay, World Peace — is placing the idea of world peace at the forefront of people’s minds. Now, every night the Lakers take the floor, an announcer will boom, ‘At forward, Metta World Peace.’ Fans will chant for ‘World Peace’ and wear jerseys bearing the name at bars and school campuses. Sports radio will be assigned the task of analyzing the statistics and performance of ‘World Peace.’ […] No, it won’t appear in every sports story written, but forcing writers to have to stop and spell out ‘World Peace’ in the midst of all the epic war reports is a victory in its own right.

Hearing play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan enthusiastically pronounce every syllable of ‘Metta … World … Peace!’ as World Peace drove to the basket for an insane dunk against the Utah Jazz during a game last week was worth the price of admission alone.

Even if it is said mockingly — and it will be for a while — the jokes will eventually wear thin and we will be left repeating ‘Metta World Peace.” -Mychal Denzel Smith