Metta World Peace Elbow Video: Lakers F Ejected for Heinous Hit on James Harden

During Sunday's showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, it became painfully clear that Ron Artest's transformation into Metta World Peace has been completed in name only.

While celebrating a dunk late in the second quarter, World Peace bumped into James Harden, then cocked back his elbow and unleashed a vicious strike to the Thunder forward's head.

It was absolutely intentional, it was incredibly dangerous and it will get World Peace suspended. Quite frankly, there's no debate to be had about any of those points.

It was a disgraceful act, one that has no place on the basketball court.

Now, I am all for physical play. Using your elbows to clear space offensively, gain position for a rebound and belt cutters coming through the lane is totally acceptable.

Winding up, delivering a Jon Jones 'bow to the dome and following through is not, especially when the play is over.

Of course, given World Peace's well documented history with violence and anger management issues, it's easy to overreact whenever he does something semi-controversial. However, even the biggest Lakers fan has to admit that this was a horrible move on his part.

The elbow is perhaps the most dangerous weapon in the human body. With the density of the bone and amount of force that can be generated after winding up, throwing an elbow is way more deadly than a punch, even if it looks less heinous.

Luckily for everyone involved, it doesn't appear Harden was injured too badly. After writhing on the floor for a few minutes, he was able to walk into the locker room. He was initially cleared to return in the second half, but after a second evaluation, the Thunder training staff decided he would need further treatment. He did not return.

Meanwhile, World Peace is headed for a multi-game suspension. Andrew Bynum was banned for five games after elbowing J.J. Barea in last year's playoffs, so I think a 5 to 10 game suspension is reasonable.