No Malice by Metta World Peace

Author:Metta World Peace
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Triumph Books
Published: 2018-03-14T04:00:00+00:00

15. Sactown

Meanwhile, I waited. It took over a month for a deal to be worked out. A lot of teams were mentioned. The Kings, Clippers, Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets all came up. There were rumors of three-team deals. After a while it felt like I could end up anywhere. I heard that I was going to the Clippers in exchange for Corey Maggette, but that trade fell through after Corey hurt his foot.

While I waited, all I heard about in the media was how much of a problem I was and how I would be a distraction in any locker room. I had my issues and I screwed things up for myself in Indiana, but what was being said about me in the press wasn’t entirely true—at least that’s not how I viewed myself. I had another side and the people close to me knew that I was also a caring person who gave back as much as I could. A lot of the people who were speaking out against me at that time, or saying I was a liability, didn’t know me personally. I tried not to let that get to me but it was hard to do so.

There had been talks between the Pacers and Kings for a while. Peja was about to be a free agent and it made sense for the Kings to get something in return rather than letting him walk. When it looked like the trade would fall through again, the Pacers called me into the office. They explained that my agent was hesitant to endorse the deal because he felt Sacramento had limited endorsement potential for me. I tried not to think about that. After all, it was difficult to tell what my endorsement potential even was after the brawl. But those things were no longer an issue for me. I just wanted to play basketball and at that point I was happy to go to Sacramento or any other place that wanted me.

I had one brief conversation on the phone with Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof. I told them that I wanted to be there. That was all they needed to hear. On January 24, 2006, I became a member of the Sacramento Kings.

The Maloofs owned the Palms hotel and casino in Las Vegas, and they gambled on me by giving me a chance. I respected that and I was excited to be a King. It was a breath of fresh air to be in a new city and playing for a different team. I knew my past would never be totally forgotten, but in California I felt a step removed from the brawl. I wasn’t under the same type of pressure.

Rick Adelman had been the head coach of the Kings since 1998 and he took them to the playoffs every single year. A few years earlier the Kings had been one of the best teams in the NBA and led the league in wins.

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