Metta World Peace joined the Los Angeles Lakers sharpshooter Danny Green and Harrison Sanford on Inside The Green Room podcast to discuss his time playing with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, his title run in 2010, and more. During the conversation, the former NBA champion revealed that his last name is no longer World Peace.
It turns out he changed his last name after getting married. Former defensive player of the year (in 2004) is now Sandiford-Artest. His new last name is made of his wife’s last name ‘Ford’ and his own previous last name ‘Artest’.
He also revealed that it was embarrassing for him after he came Metta World Peace back in 2011. It was so bad that he even thought about changing his name back but eventually got used to his new name and went with it.
Via Christian Rivas of Silver Screen & Roll:
“The first game that I had with ‘World Peace,’ I was like, ‘This is the dumbest thing ever. I was coming off of the bench at that time, in 2011, and they say, ‘Metta World Peace!’ And I remember not wanting to take off my warm up. It was embarrassing. So I did think about changing my name back, but then I got used, people got used it.
“But right now, it’s funny because I got married, and my name now is ‘Metta SANDIFord-Artest.’ I actually took my wife’s last and added it to mine.”
