Pretty much everything we know about the Los Angeles Lakers’ Metta World Peace defies sheer logic, so it should come as no surprise that he’s planning on returning to the court soon. Really soon. Like now.
Okay, it’s still surprising.
Per Sam Amick of USA Today,World Peace plans to suit up and ultimately play in the Lakers’ Tuesday night bout against the New Orleans Hornets:
Kobe Bryant has a nickname for Metta World Peace that was more than fitting on Monday afternoon, when the Lakers small forward made the stunning announcement that he would play in Tuesday night’s game against New Orleans just 12 days after having surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.
“I call him Logan now – he’s Wolverine,” Bryant said of the popular X-Men character.
Metta World Beast is more like it.
“I’m not very surprised,” Bryant also said. “He takes care of himself. He eats all the right stuff. Still, it’s extremely impressive.”
First, and let me be clear here, Amick’s nickname for Metta is so much better than Kobe Bryant’s. Second, are you flipping kidding me? I don’t doubt that World Peace takes care of himself and eats “all the right stuff,” but he’s been out about two weeks, and he had surgery on his meniscus about a week and a half ago. Is this a joke?
Metta was supposed to be out for six weeks and when he takes the court against New Orleans, he’ll have cut that timetable down by roughly two-thirds of what it was.
Lakers forward Metta World Peace will have surgery tomorrow for a torn lateral meniscus and is expected to be out 6 weeks.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) March 27, 2013
Again, are you kidding me?
The Lakers sure hope not. And all of us are left hoping that this isn’t some sort of naive gimmick.
At 33, World Peace has been around the block more than once, and he understands the urgency behind Los Angeles’ playoff push, but one must hope he’s not risking further injury by returning so soon. I’m not insinuating that he is either. If anyone in the league was born to defy the laws of medicine and bodily injury, it was Metta. Still, we have to admit it’s really soon.
This is a similar injury that kept Jeremy Lin sidelined for the final 17 games of last season and all of the playoffs. World Peace has missed six. Beating-a-dead-horse style, this is really soon.
Had this been the playoffs, and the Lakers on the cusp of winning a title or simply contending for one, I could see World Peace rushing back. But these Lakers might not even make the postseason. If he’s to risk further injury, I would personally hate to see it be for a fruitless cause.
That said, there’s no denying the Lakers need him. They’re allowing 109.9 points per 100 possessions with him off the floor, the equivalent of 28th in the league. With him, they’re relinquishing 105.7, which equates to 15th. They’re offense is also 3.7 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor as well.
Overall, the Lakers are a plus-7.9 per 100 possessions with World Peace on the floor. To put that in perspective, they’re only a plus-3.6 with Kobe. So yeah, they need him.
But they actually need him, not some half-healthy version. They need the World Peace who can defend down low, bang in the post and make the sharp lateral movements necessary to lock opposing wings down.
Is he going to be able to make those jagged movements as effectively and without aggravating his knee injury? And is he going to make the Lakers better?
Only time will tell.
Or, you know, the Lakers’ game against the Hornets will.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
