Metta World Peace is riding the ride as long as he can
Gary Washburn
World Peace refrains from discussing his championship days with the Lakers’ younger players.
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BostonGlobe.com
World Peace has appeared in just 18 games this season, despite being healthy. He mostly has been on the inactive list, sitting behind the bench in a suit, riding the ride for as long as he can at age 37.

World Peace refrains from discussing his championship days with the team’s younger players, such as D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, and Julius Randle. World Peace considers that ancient history.

“That was seven or eight years ago,” he said. “This is a new time. Some of these guys were still getting their butt whipped for eating too much candy seven years ago. It’s a new era of players. The best players to play in the NBA are in today’s game. Seven years ago, it’s not important.”

Yet it was one of the defining moments of his comeback. Then Ron Artest, World Peace was labeled a thug for his actions during the 2004 “Malice at the Palace,” a brawl between the Pacers and Pistons that involved fans, sparked when Artest charged into the stands after a fan he thought had thrown a drink at him.

Artest was suspended for the rest of that season and then became a basketball vagabond, spending time in Sacramento and Houston before signing with the Lakers, for whom he played four strong seasons, including the championship.

Changing his name to Metta World Peace, he was open about his mental health issues and became less of a villain and more of a sympathetic figure for his candor about his struggles. After the Lakers won the 2010 title at Staples Center, World Peace even thanked his psychiatrist for helping resurrect his career.

In Game 7 against the Celtics, World Peace drained a 27-foot 3-pointer with 1:01 left that gave the Lakers a 79-73 lead, sealing the title.

“The fans remember it, sometimes when I walk the streets, fans still talk about that shot,” he said. “I appreciate it. Miss or make, I am happy with the shot. It was cool. When I watch it, I remember it, but not every day I remember until fans tell me, ‘Thank you for winning the championship.’ And I’m like, ‘Seven years ago? Really?’

“That’s all you do is play for championships. I don’t care what you do in the meantime. That was probably one of the best plays of that game, so I am grateful.”

Luke Walton, now World Peace’s coach, lauded his former teammate for that Game 7 performance and for his professionalism throughout his Lakers tenure.

“Metta was one of my favorite teammates, he was great,” Walton said. “For him to make that shot, that’s why he came here. That’s why he sacrificed to the role that he took. Obviously you’re thrilled for your friends and teammates when they make plays like that.”

It’s funny to hear World Peace refer to Walton, who is a year younger, as “Coach Luke.” But the two have a strong bond, so much so that World Peace made the team this season despite the presence of younger and perhaps more worthy players.

“He was a major part of the team,” World Peace said of Walton as a teammate. “He contributed big plays, big passes, and when you’re on the bench, great coaching on the bench as a player. I needed that.

“I told the team two weeks ago in Phoenix, when I was struggling, Luke always had my back, always gave me the confidence to feel like I was better than I really was. I had big close-out games, every close-out game I had 20 or more points.”

The Jazz are trying to catch the Rockets for the third seed in the Western Conference. Utah hasn’t made the playoffs during Gordon Hayward’s tenure but is virtually guaranteed to snap that skid behind the play of Brad Stevens’s former pupil at Butler.

The question with Utah is experience, or lack thereof. The Jazz added George Hill, Joe Johnson, and Boris Diaw in the offseason after trying to go young for years. That has helped Utah’s poise during this critical stretch of the season. The Jazz were on the periphery of the playoffs the past two years but folded in the final weeks of the season.

Hayward has emerged as one of the league’s top small forwards with the help from Hill, who has been sparkling when he’s played, and center Rudy Gobert, who is first in the league in blocked shots and fifth in rebounding.

“I don’t think we’re there yet,” Hayward said of being a real contender in the West. “We’re just so inexperienced as far as playoffs are concerned. Adding some veterans this last offseason can help us, and I know they are going to teach us some and guide us a little bit, but there’s definitely nothing like experiences. We just don’t have a lot of those, so it’s something we’ll have to learn.

“The other players and coaches can help you and put you in positions to be successful, but until you’re in the moment it’s really hard, and I think we’ve seen some games where we play against playoff teams and they lock in on us and we struggle a little bit. So, hopefully we can learn from some of the situations in season, where teams are going to tighten up, hopefully we can learn from that.”

Hayward missed the first two weeks of the season with a hand injury, and Hill has been beset with myriad ailments but has missed just three games since Jan. 7.

“We’ve definitely had the injury bug a little bit, but I think it’s made us a better team because of it,” Hayward said. “I think guys have been in situations where they wouldn’t normally have been. But health has definitely been an issue for us.”

It’s been seven years since Hayward lofted that halfcourt shot that bounced off the backboard and rim that would have beaten Duke in the national championship game. He left for the NBA after his sophomore season, a product of Stevens’s hard recruiting pitch while he was a basketball and tennis player in high school.

“I do remember my senior year in tennis I was trying to go win state and was undefeated, hadn’t lost a match yet,” Hayward said. “And [Stevens] came and watched me play, and the only match he watched me play I lost. I was embarrassed, I remember, because I wanted to play well for my [future] coach and I lost. So, that was not a good day.”

Hayward and Stevens shared a few moments together at the All-Star Game in New Orleans, where Stevens was coaching the Eastern Conference team and Hayward was making his first All-Star appearance for the West.

“It’s great to see his kids, they’re grown up now,” Hayward said. “And one of my assistants at Butler [Micah Shrewsberry] is there [in Boston] as well. I’m always rooting for Coach Stevens and he deserves every bit of recognition he gets. He’s a great coach and a great guy.

“Time flies for sure, and just looking at pictures [from then] you can see the difference from both of us and where we’ve come, and I’m looking forward to more that we can accomplish.”

When asked if he thinks about that shot against Duke often, Hayward said, “I don’t think about it usually until somebody asks about it. So, thank you for that. But usually every March, too. Every time March rolls around, it definitely crosses my mind.”

Matt Barnes signed a two-year deal with the Kings in the offseason, a chance to return to his hometown team for the second time. He was supposed to serve as a mentor for the mercurial DeMarcus Cousins and the revamped Kings in a new arena.

This season has been a disaster for Sacramento, which failed to make the expected playoff push, and then dealt Cousins to the Pelicans in a controversial move. To create roster space for the three players acquired from New Orleans, the Kings waived Barnes, not even halfway through his contract.

Barnes waited more than a week as a free agent, then Kevin Durant sprained his left knee, leaving the Warriors without forward depth. So they brought back Barnes, who played on the 2006-07 Golden State team that upset the top-seeded Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs.

Before the Golden State resurrection of the past three years, that 2006-07 team was considered the Warriors’ best in recent memory. So Barnes was welcomed warmly by the Oracle Arena faithful when he made his home debut Wednesday against the Celtics.

The addition of Barnes was interesting considering the Warriors have been wary of bringing in players with off-court issues, of which Barnes has had plenty throughout his career. But he said he promised to not become a distraction with his best opportunity to win a title.

“I couldn’t speak on what they thought, but there’s enough guys I played with that vouched for me,” Barnes said. “I have gotten into some trouble off the court, but most of the time it was reputation-type trouble. I’m a target and I realize that. And I know coming here with what they have going on. I want to come here and fit in. I don’t want to come in and stand out. I want to be a little part of something hopefully big in helping this team get another ring. Off the court, you don’t have to worry about me.”

Barnes spent two seasons with Golden State as its primary swingman off the bench (2006-08), before signing with the Suns. That 2006-07 team revived basketball in the Bay Area, ending a 12-year playoff drought.

“That team kind of started something, and obviously this team picked it up and took it to the ultimate level,” Barnes said. “So for myself to come back and have a chance to compete with these guys and hopefully helping them get another one is a dream come true.”

Barnes’s story of being waived, then being on the street, then being signed by a top team is not uncommon. In a related move, the Warriors, who promised to sign the Lakers’ Jose Calderon after he was waived, had to sign and then waive the guard to make room for Barnes.

Calderon made $415,000 in the deal after the Warriors promised him that salary because he accepted $400,000 less to facilitate being waived by the Lakers. Calderon then was claimed by the Hawks.

Barnes thought he was safe because the Kings had said they weren’t going to trade Cousins. That changed over the All-Star break.

“They were so adamant in not trading DeMarcus, so once they traded him, my mind-set is they’re starting over and my mind-set is also I’m too old to start over,” Barnes said. “So Vlade [Divac, the Kings’ general manager] had that understanding and the next day we spoke and it was a mutual, ‘Hey, I understand it’s a business and I want to win.’ And he understood that. So from there guys started calling me.”

Barnes said Durant called him, and then the Warriors’ Draymond Green. James Harden and Trevor Ariza made recruiting pitches from Houston. DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul called from the Clippers, where Barnes thought he was signing before they brought back Wesley Johnson on an extension. The Spurs and Cavaliers also called.

“So, it was a waiting game,” Barnes said. “I just stayed ready, working out in LA, hanging with my kids. I got a call when I was at their [basketball] practice and then coach [Steve] Kerr called me at about 10 o’clock that night and I was on a plane to Chicago the next day.”

For a player known by some more for his participation in a reality TV show and his altercation with former friend and teammate Derek Fisher, Barnes was heartened by the interest from championship-caliber teams.

“I think that’s what I kind of hang my hat on, I’ve obviously had a well-traveled career and there’s been some downs and some ups,” he said. “To have the respect of the guys that I play against, the guys that I compete against, that are obviously some of the best guys in the game, to have those guys want me as a part of their team, I think says a lot for me. At least I’ve done a pretty good job at some point.

“Me and [Durant] talked last summer about both of us coming here. But it didn’t work out for me. To have a chance to come back here is my No. 1 choice.”

There’s no issue with the Lakers informing veterans Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng that they plan on playing younger players as they try to find out more about the talent pool in the short term. The Lakers need to lose because if their first-round pick lands outside the top three, it goes to the 76ers. But the issue with Mozgov and Deng is they have three years left on their respective contracts with no options, meaning if president of basketball Magic Johnson plans to rid the club of those deals, he’s going to have to find a creative way to do it. Deng is owed roughly $18 million over those three seasons, and Mozgov about $16 million. Early returns on some four-year packages for free agents in the $65 million to $75 million range are not good. Many of those players, including Mozgov, Deng, Ian Mahinmi, Joakim Noah, and Bismack Biyombo, have failed to meet expectations. But with an increase in the salary cap coming again next summer, expect more deals of that nature . . . The season-ending injury to Andrew Bogut will force the Cavaliers to waive him and seek another free agent big man. Larry Sanders worked out for the Cavaliers — as well as the Celtics — and is available. His workout for the Celtics was uneven at best, and he’s been out of the NBA for two-plus years since retiring for personal reasons. The Cavaliers are without the backup center they have missed since allowing Mozgov to sign with the Lakers . . . A name to watch in the UMass coaching search is Celtics assistant Walter McCarty, who is ready for a Division 1 job after four years under Brad Stevens, as well as time at Louisville under Rick Pitino. UMass fired longtime coach Derek Kellogg after being eliminated from the Atlantic 10 tournament. That job will receive a lot of interest because of the school’s tradition and potential to compete in the A-10 . . .One of the more intriguing stories in the NBADL is the signing of former Celtic Nate Robinson, who is making perhaps his final bid at an NBA opportunity with the Delaware 87ers. Robinson has played in eight games for the 87ers, averaging 8.4 points and 3.8 assists. Robinson is banking on a summer league invite that could perhaps turn into a training camp chance next fall. Robinson turns 33 in May and has lost some of the athleticism that helped him to win three slam dunk titles.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has developed into one of the more imposing big men in the league. Against Charlotte on March 4, the second-year player scored 31 points on 86.7 percent shooting and hauled in 14 rebounds. Jokic is just the fifth player age 22 or younger (since 1983-84) to score at least 30 points on 85 percent shooting and have 10 or more rebounds in a game.

Date: March 4, 2017. Result: 112-102 loss vs. Hornets. Age: 22 years, 13 days.

Stat line: 33 minutes; 31 points; 13-15 FG-FGA; 86.7%; 14 rebounds.

Date: Jan. 12, 2015. Result: 114-111 loss vs. Pistons. Age: 22 years, 251 days.

Stat line: 36 minutes; 31 points; 14-15 FG-FGA; 93.3%; 12 rebounds.

Date: April 14, 2007. Result: 104-87 win at 76ers. Age: 21 years, 127 days.

Stat line: 43 minutes; 35 points; 14-15 FG-FGA; 93.3%; 11 rebounds.

Date: Dec. 15, 2007. Result: 123-119 loss vs. Grizzlies. Age: 22 years, 7 days.

Stat line: 42 minutes; 31 points; 10-11 FG-FGA; 90.9%; 20 rebounds.

Date: Jan. 31, 1998. Result: 90-88 win vs. Pistons. Age: 22 years, 240 days.

Stat line: 33 minutes; 32 points; 12-14 FG-FGA; 85.7%; 13 rebounds.

Date: Jan. 23, 1993. Result: 127-106 win vs. Mavericks. Age: 20 years, 323 days.

Stat line: 40 minutes; 38 points; 14-16 FG-FGA; 87.5%; 13 rebounds

Date: Dec. 21, 1991. Result: 102-91 win at Clippers. Age: 22 years, 290 days.

Stat line: 33 minutes; 32 points; 14-16 FG-FGA; 87.5%; 10 rebounds.