Rick Carlisle on former combatant Metta World Peace: 'He’s got a chance to be a good coach'

Metta World Peace’s basketball brilliance, dating back to his high school days, has never been question. The issue, with the former Ron Artest, is streamlining his wisdom in ways that aide his team on the actual court, or through formats that make him a strong teammate. Sometimes too much information comes down the pipeline at once, and MWP can lose focus. It’s all unendingly relateable.

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The Los Angeles Lakers veteran has vowed to attempt to play for a cool two decades, which will be a tough go as World Peace enters his 17th season in 2016-17. He’s yet to hit a field goal in 12 minutes of play this year with the baby, boundin’ Lakers, a season after hitting fewer than a third of his shots from the floor.

Still, the post-playing opportunities are multifold. Metta would seem a natural in a televised studio show, a winsome type that has had the pleasure of playing alongside too many stars and/or personalities to count since entering the league in 1999.

There’s always time to sit in front of a camera, though. With the competitive juices still flowing in his late 30s and beyond, would MWP be suited for life as an assistant or even head coach? With the Dallas Mavericks visiting Los Angeles on Tuesday, winning Mavs coach Rick Carlisle discussed the potential for his former player, from 2003-06, to make the move. From Mark Medina at the Orange County Register:

And:

Working under a series of fantastic head coaches is no guarantee for future success on the sideline, but MWP has played for great and successful coaches like Carlisle (whom Metta referred to as “the genius!” just before Carlisle’s discussion with the media on Tuesday), Phil Jackson, Rick Adelman and Mike Woodson. He’s also played for Byron Scott, Tim Floyd, Isiah Thomas and Reggie Theus.

This sort of friendly back and forth is remarkable, as with all things regarding Metta World Peace, considering where these two were 11 years ago this time.

Early in 2005-06, when World Peace was a Pacer and Carlisle was his coach, the former Ron Artest asked for a trade from Indiana under the auspices of getting away from Carlisle’s heavy-handed ways on offense:

Any armchair analyst could recognize that while Artest did have issues with Carlisle’s offense (the then-Pacer coach wasn’t keen on Ron’s less-successful Adrian Dantley-styled forays into the post), his attempt to break free had more to do with his lingering embarrassment carried over from his role in the Malice in the Palace. That bust-up may have cost Indiana an NBA championship, and Ron Artest was well aware. The guy that changes names and numbers every few years wanted a clean slate.

Rick Carlisle no doubt sees as much, and the 2011 NBA championship winner and president of the NBA’s coaching association has moved on. Once Metta World Peace’s 20-year run is over, he has enough in him to make a move to the sidelines.

Once there, it will be just like his playing career. MWP will have to work to learn just how and when to apply the things that he sees and few else do in ways that don’t overwhelm everyone around him.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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