Ron Artest III Accidentally Left Alone On Court With Trophy After Lakers 2010 Title
Ron Artest III was 12 years old when his father, Metta World Peace, won an NBA championship with the Lakers in 2010.
During the celebration following the Lakers' 83-79 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of The Finals, Ron Artest III somehow got left behind on the court with the championship trophy after his father went to do a postgame press conference.
“Everyone was celebrating, and I was the last one that had the trophy,” Artest III said in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated All Lakers. “I was left as the only one on the court with it. I could’ve just walked up the stairs and left with it. I started to look for my dad and my family, but I didn’t know where they went. I sat on the court. ... I dropped the trophy. It was heavy. I was young, and it was heavy. I was sitting down, so it wasn’t a far drop. It was cool holding it, though.”
As World Peace was talking to reporters, he realized his son was missing.
“Where’s RonRon?” World Peace asked.
Someone told him he was with Kobe Bryant, so World Peace kept answering questions.
Meanwhile, Ron Artest III was alone on the court, wondering where everyone went.
After an hour or so, the Artest family finally found him. The memory still makes World Peace's sons laugh.
“I didn’t realize how big of an experience it was at the time,” Jeron Artest said. “We had fun seeing everyone celebrating winning a championship. They made my brother hold the trophy on the court for some reason. He was holding it and looking at it. My dad went to the press conference room and my brother was behind. He didn’t realize where everyone was, so he was looking around the court and just stayed out there, holding the trophy and wondering where everyone was.”
The two Artest brothers both play basketball in the Big West Conference in Southern California. Ron Artest III plays for Cal State Northridge and Jeron plays for UC Irvine.
Artest III said his father often helps helps train him, sometimes immediately following games.
“Right after a game he’d be ready to work out while people were still leaving and families would be waiting, we’d have a serious workout going on on the court,” Artest III said with a laugh. “He’s super intense. It’s good. I like it.”
World Peace had two stints with the Lakers, from 2009-2013 and again in 2015-2017.
