Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Metta Sandiford-Artest shares the story of how Michael Jordan forgave him after he cracked His Airness' ribs in a pickup game
Metta World Peace may be better known for instigating the notorious “Malice at the Palace,” but the former St. John’s star was more than that. He was a rugged, hard-nosed, and physical defender who wasn’t afraid to mix it up with anyone, regardless of size and stature.
Unfortunately for the GOAT, Michael Jordan, he learned this the hard way in a pickup game in 2001 when World Peace—who, at the time, still went by the name Ron Artest—accidentally cracked his ribs.
Played hard against His Airness
Artest was only 19 years old at the time when he was blessed to share the floor with His Airness. Jordan gave Artest the business in that game, scoring every time he caught the ball. So, Artest tried to deny Jordan the ball. Unfortunately, that resulted in an unintended consequence.
"So then as I was denying with the left hand, my right elbow went under his hand that was under his left hand that was grabbing me, so I get his hand out the way, then I hit him with my elbow in his ribs and then the ref called an offensive foul. Jordan had refs at every single run, and the ref called an offensive foul, and I'm like, 'Yeah!' And then Jordan went like this (holds his side) and I was like ‘Oh,'" World Peace recalled.
Affected Artest
World Peace revealed that the incident hit him hard and he blamed himself for hurting Jordan. However, he was able to get his bearings together after having a conversation with Jordan over the phone.
"Jordan was like, 'Hey man, it's OK. Things happen, and don't worry about it.' And then I went back to playing. It was one of the greatest phone calls I got in my life. I spoke to Jordan twice on the phone in my life,” World Peace shared.
