Earlier today, Ron Artest, who is in the process of changing his name to “Metta World Peace” went on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption to explain why he decided to change his name to Metta World Peace. Here are the quick facts:
- Artest got the idea when Chad Johnson changed his name to Chad Ochocinco, but it took him three years to come up with a name that he really liked.
- Artest settled on the “Peace” idea early, and briefly flirted with simply becoming “Ron World Peace,” but eventually decided to go with the fist name “Metta,” which he hopes will prompt people to look up the word and understand its meaning.
- “Metta” is a Buddhist term, and while Artest is not Buddhist, he likes what the word stands for. According to him, it has many meanings, including “friendship, loving, kindness, and togetherness.”
- Artest hopes his name change will accomplish the same things that raffling off his championship ring in order to raise money for mental health awareness and visiting with prison inmates has done; spread a positive message to those who need it.
Those are the basics -- for the full interview, click the link. For now, shine on, Mr. Artest/Peace.
