The NBA has finally made a decision on the fate of Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace after elbowing James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder this past Sunday. After taking a few days to mull over the options, the league has decided to hit World Peace with a seven game suspension. This suspension will keep him out of the regular season finale against the division rival Sacramento Kings and the first round of the playoffs unless it goes the full seven games.
Even though missing the first round seems a bit harsh, the penalty does make sense and was definitely warranted. With World Peace’s past being checkered to say the least with altercations, the NBA had to hold the star forward to a different standard and it would be hard to argue that the elbow he threw wasn’t intentional.
With the Lakers (3rd seed) most likely facing the Denver Nuggets (6th seed) in the first round of the NBA playoffs, losing World Peace for the entire series may be a huge loss. Not only will they have to play against a motivated young team in the Nuggets, but they might also have to deal with an injured Matt Barnes who sprained his ankle in the win over the Thunder on Sunday.
Needless to say, the Lakers have been put in a tough spot by World Peace’s actions could really struggle right out of the gate in the playoffs. Chances are that the Lakers will advance to the second round to face the Thunder, but the series against the Nuggets might take its toll on this veteran squad looking to make one more run at an NBA title with superstar Kobe Bryant leading the way.
It’ll be interesting to see how Lakers Coach Mike Brown does without his energy in the starting lineup and his best bench player injured.
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