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As if there wasn’t already enough drama built around the Thunder and Lakers second round matchup, Metta World Peace is throwing a little gas on a burning bonfire.
Clearly, the atmosphere in Oklahoma City will be intense, largely focused around getting some kind of revenge on World Peace for his devastating elbow on James Harden. But instead of staying low key about it, World Peace seems to be relishing this, trying to incite and escalate things.
He almost proudly declared a week ago on Conan that he had not spoken to Harden since the elbow and defiantly defended himself for the act. He said he deserved the suspension, but then mentioned Kevin Love stepping Luis Scola as if to try and draw a comparison.
But with Game 1 coming and the intensity sure to be high in OKC, World Peace isn’t backing down in the slightest. Via the L.A. Times:
“It’ll be ironic. I assume that the fans won’t love it,” World Peace said. “People can say what they want, but that’s going to the most entertainment Oklahoma City has had since they’ve been Oklahoma City.
[...]
World Peace has not spoken to Harden since elbowing him in the second quarter of the Lakers’ 114-106 double-overtime victory April 22.
He didn’t expect to greet him before the game.
“He doesn’t start. I only fist-bump the starting five,” World Peace said. “I don’t fist-bump subs.”
Or he put it this way via Yahoo! Sports: “I don’t shake substitutions’ hands,” he said. “He doesn’t start.”
How that last statement is perceived is that World Peace is dissing Harden, but it’s hard to really know his intention. With World Peace being a starter and Harden not, it would be a little awkward for him to walk over when Harden enters the game to give him a little handshake. A show of sportsmanship and class, absolutely, but we’re talking Ron Metta Artest Peace here. Those things don’t exactly exist in that fantasy land he walks around in.
Also, why not before the game? You nearly decapitated the dude. You can’t just man up and go over and say my bad? Just a simple 10-second gesture. Don’t ever be confused: Despite the attempt at rehabilitating an image, he’s still Ron Artest.
World Peace said this of Thunder fans and how they might react:
“It’s not my concern. It’s their concern,” he said. “We live in America – freedom of speech. You have freedom to do anything that you want to do.”
World Peace has taken a unique approach to his vicious crime, avoiding much public regret or apology. On Conan O’Brien, he actually implied Harden shared some blame for the elbow incident for “sticking his chin” in World Peace’s way.
The stage is certainly set and I’m sure Thunder fans will make their displeasure with World Peace heard very clearly. And World Peace only seems to be eating this up. He seems to be enjoying the anger directed towards him. Gonna make for a fun second round series, that’s for sure. I’d say keep it classy, but forget that. End World Peace.
Chris bosh looked very gay during his injury, had his rear end all in the air.
@jaybound Not in my house, not anywhere.
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@MisterJohnsonOKC Last saw him staggering down Beale Street . . .
Dear Mr. Gasol: There's no use hiding in Barcelona. Come on back to OKC and try to help your team avoid an embarassing sweep.
Ok guys I need your help. I'm in Barcelona for the week and am trying to figure out how Im gonna watch these games. The game is at 330 am local time here. I have a tv w basic cable in my room. I have an iPhone. I have an iPad. I have wifi. I don't believe streaming works on the iPad on those sites. What do I do??? I'm also willing to go to any bar that would be open in the middle of the night.
@booles You sound like the guy in 127 Hours who had his arm pinned to a canyon wall by a boulder while he layed out all his supplies to ponder what might be useful. He eventually got out, so I have faith you'll figure out a way--even though I have no idea. :)
My son spent a month in Spain after he graduated from college. He said the little sissy girl Gasol is virtually treated like a national icon. Little sissy girl Gasol Laker jerseys are everywhere to be seen. I'm sure there will be plenty of bars open watching their national sissy hero into the wee hours. I envy you. I'd almost give you my ticket so as I could be in a Barcelona bar taunting the sissy girl Gasol and his Euro followers on the tube while wearing my Nick Collison Thunder jersey. You have a rare opportunity as a Thunder fan being in Barcelona and such. Go to the bar...are you kidding? Make sure and make several references about Phil slapping their little sissy last year though...just to play with them.
@El Prez
Try http://www.firstrowsports.eu/ - not HD, but it works pretty well
@Jared Dudley--I'm not a homophobe. I wasn't making any overt reference that the sissy girl Gasol likes kissing boys or peeks at Kobe when he's naked in the Laker locker room. I understand your's and Grant Hill's concern. I don't think he's gay--just the sissiest heterosexual NBA player in the league. Mike Brown should slap him and see what happens. If nothing else--Magic Johnson will laugh his ass off.
@justin_mia @El Prez Bring on the Lakers!
@El Prez This site gets sort of creepy when there's no basketball for a week.
You were cheering for Serge. You can't get him out of your mind prancing around semi-nude in those ESPN lingerie soft porn pieces. It has nothing to do with the sissy girl Gasol. Admit it--you have a thing for Serge.
@El Prez @Jared Full disclosure: I actually CHEERED for the brothers Gasol over the summer as they played alongside Serge, Rubio, and Fernandez on the Spanish team. But that was then . . .
@El Prez Not in my house, not anywhere.
@El Prez Guess he needs an all-night bar . . . game starts at 3:30 am.
@El Prez For maximum Daily Thunder enjoyment, there should be a "sissy girl Gasol" post from El Prez every 4.2 hours from now until the end of this series. (+/- .5 hours)
@booles I used to watch Thunder games on my iphone when I could find the game on Veetle, which I usually could. But, that was over a year ago.
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@Jared Dudley who is going to guard harden and durant, they only have 2 good wing defenders
@Jared Dudley This seems likely.
DraftExpress Most active pursuers for Alexey Shved's services: Minnesota, Memphis, OKC. Asking price: 3 years, 10 mil USD. CSKA doesn't expect him back.
@gnaygg What is the incentive on Shved? He might not be a PG, and we have a number of backups there already. He might be a great shooter, but looks like a bad defender. Given his slight frame, I don't see him playing SF. Maybe he is Nick Young, maybe he is Jason Kapono. Would either of those guys see the floor for us?
@gnaygg
What do they mean by 'asking price'? Is that the buyout? Does he not have to go through the draft?
Last year there was romuors about Ioannis Borousis,or something like that,but nothing happened,but I would love Shved in OKC,but we need buy him fast,because his price can rise during Olympics!
Breaking News: Derek Fisher is now The leader in playoff 3pt percentage at 65%
@OBoymuzik Memo to Lakers; sag off Fisher he's too old to hit 3s
Kobe's self-confidence is frightening
Does anyone have ESPN insider? There's an article on there "How Lakers Must Guard Westbrook". Was wondering how exactly they plan on doing it lol. Considering athletic point guards are their Kryptonite.
@Zyzz Terrible article. It doesn't even mention that Kobe could spend significant time on Westbrook and claims that the Lakers can take a lot away from what Lawson did to them even though Russ and Lawson are very different players. They're both quick...similarities pretty much end there.
@northernthunder @Zyzz in their eye's anything better than Ramon Sessions is the same lol that guy was pretty pretty bad in the nuggets series
What is the reasoning behind Berry Tramel calling the Thunder, Boomers? I don't get it. I remember seeing an article last year he clarified this nickname, but I wasn't able to read it. Thus, I don't understand his logic. I do know it has nothing to do with OU, but I just really want to understand his thought process.
Here's the thought process on Tramel and his Boomers signature line. Imagine Mark Twain on acid writing sports stories. That's it--that's the thought process. Some old croaker in Nichols Hills probably told him it was clever and Tramel is going to ride it into the dust.
@Jameswade99 Here's what I think his logic includes:
1. Boomer is an Oklahoma-related term (from the land run days) and might kind of relate to a rush or wave of enthusiastic people.
2. Boomer recalls the phrase Baby Boomers, a nod to many of our players (pre Fish and Nazr era anyway) being so young.
3. Boom is the sound associated with thunder and, you know, we are the Thunder.
4. If he says Boomer enough, it will drive the dt people out of their minds.
@ThunderChick2010 Thanks. He's been calling our players "Boomers" since the Thunder came to OKC. I don't know about everyone else but, I HATE IT! I know hate is a strong word. In this case, for me, it's not strong enough. Every time I see the word boomers, I actually cringe. Oh well. Tramel is a goof ball.
@Jameswade99 @ThunderChick2010 you're safe here
Did anyone see Nick young during post game interview? Lol! Superfly meets outsiders
@Thunderman swag swag swag
More Laker fan comments:
On offense, we need to have a super Kobe ala 2010 vs. Phoenix Suns. If Thabo is guarding kobe the best play is an iso coz Thabo is bad one on one defender and if harden is on Kobe we should let him play on the block and make harden make those defensive mistakes.
Pure ignorance
It's a good thing I got a lot of REM sleep this week cause I feel the sleep deprivation syndrome getting ready to return. Ever since sissy girl Gasol eliminated us with the putback in Game 6 two years ago...this is what I've waited for as Thunder fan. I'm not even going to lower myself to booing Rowdy Roddy Artest because I'm so focused on the series. If the person sitting next to me wants to crank him with a Jack Daniels bottle I have no problem with that whatsoever and if security asks...I'll say I didn't see anything. Artest is a cockroach and a thug, but my energy is diverted elsewhere right now. Just win four games and advance is all I want right now. Just win.
@El Prez "Mamby pamby Euro wrists" were awfully busy with the putbacks last night. . . .
Karl went small after Faried got that third foul and it was easy even for the seven foot sissy girl Gasol. OU had more interior size with Osby and Fitz than what Karl had out there at times. Javal McGee was horrific last night. Where was his mother last night with the proud little league mother shots like in Game 5? Even she wouldn't claim him last night. He has the basketball IQ of an orange rind so let's not give sissy girl Gasol too much credit. Bayless could have had six offensive rebounds last night against the Nuggets.
@El Prez G'night, Prez. Be good! :)
I'm done for the night. I need to get my REM game day sleep. I think I'll hit the hot tub. It's a perfect hot tub night out here in Deer Creek. Take a couple of shots of Jack Daniels and see if sleep and El Prez can't become one. Look for me tomorrow night. Gold Thunder shirt, still walking with a limp, and an empty Jack Daniels bottle with Metta's name on it protruding from my shorts. Later, kid.
@El Prez That was bad--definitely a crapped-the-bed moment as Royce put it--but as far as losses go, I think the most gut-wrenching to me was the give-away loss to Houston by one point.
You realize we lost to a Wizards team with JaVale McGee and Nick Young, right? Sigh. Was this our lowest moment in the season?
@El Prez
Not sure if he was the official rep . . . but I'm not kidding:
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/10/14/2491062/javale-mcgee-airballs-nba-lockout-meeting-exit
http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2011/10/live-updates-from-nba-players-union-meeting.html
@Thunderchick Was McGee the players' rep for the Wizards?
@El Prez Here's the slideshow, but be warned it's very corny and full of crude photo cropping. Also, some of the faces may look unfamiliar if you weren't following closely. It does feature Fish, though, who I had no clue would ever ever EVER wear a Thunder uniform. McGee's Sagan move was to tip the NBPA's (player association's) position to the media (told them some guys were about to cave) which rather compromised the NBPA's game face.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0jMjXPUrIM
I didn't keep track of much during the lockout. What did Carl Sagan (McGee) do to warrant this honor? He didn't attempt to speak on collective bargaining did he? Sigh. he's never struck me as one of the sharper pencils in the jar..if you know what I mean.
@El Prez Before the season started--in a fit of boredom--I made a silly Wizard of Oz-themed ode to the NBA lockout. When I needed a face to represent the scarecrow (no brain), I chose McGee--just based on his LOCKOUT behavior. :)