Metta World Peace: Judges Give No Love to LA Lakers Star in DWTS Premiere

So maybe not all basketball players can dance after all.

Ron Artest, aka Metta World Peace, had a night to forget in his first appearance on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.

The LA Lakers forward got the worst score of every contestant with a 14 out of a possible 30 points. 

He came out doing the Cha Cha Cha with dance partner Peta Murgatroyd and seemed a bit uncomfortable and slow to move his feet.

(This is the part where NBA fans say he hasn’t been able to quickly move his feet since 2008).

Here is a sample of what the judges told Ron-Ron after his performance:

"

Head judge Len Goodman, 4: "Your footwork was atrocious."

Judge Bruno Tonioli, 5: "You have power and you have performance value... Go for it Dancer Tron."

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba, 5: "Now we know who the wild one is going to be... the fun factor was high up there."

"

Well, at least he has that fun factor!

It was obviously going to be a long road for Artest considering he has no dancing experience and his partner is brand new to the show.

Peta had called her partner “tall and stiff” before the show, and that comment was dead on.

It’s hard to rip on Artest too badly considering he decided to enter this contest because of his young daughter. At the age of four, she survived chemotherapy and is now cancer free. All of the winnings Artest earns on the show go towards research on the disease.

With that in mind, it’s hard to not root for the goofy Artest. I’m sure he has some wacky costume ideas up his sleeve and has the gall to bust them out.

You never know what to expect with Ron-Ron…maybe he’s setting out expectations super low.

Or maybe the guy just can’t dance.