Metta World Peace: Suspension Won't Change Player Formerly Known as Ron Artest

With one blow to James Harden's head, Metta World Peace went from being a cute name and a cute story to being the biggest misnomer in professional sports.

The elbow that World Peace delivered to Harden's head on Sunday was as brutal as any you're going to see in a professional basketball game. In fact, World Peace's elbow would be brutal even in a mixed martial arts fight. 

The fact that it came from a man named "World Peace" fairly boggles the mind.

Or does it? The name on the back of his Lakers jersey said "World Peace," but I don't think any of us truly saw a man named Metta World Peace at the time. We saw a man named Ron Artest.

This kind of stuff used to be par for the course where Artest was concerned. Early in his career, he had a violent streak, and I doubt any of us will ever forget what he did on November 19th, 2004. Without him, the so-called "Malice at the Palace" would have never happened.

Artest seemed gone for good as soon as Metta World Peace arrived on the scene. His arrival appeared to cap a transition that had been building for years, as Artest was slowly but surely transforming from an instigator and a problem child into a happy-go-lucky and generally likable man. The name Metta World Peace, a moniker both goofy and profound, fit him perfectly.

We now know that Artest is still in there somewhere. I would make a comparison to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I'm pretty sure every sportswriter on planet earth has already beaten me to it.

The question currently being asked in the league offices right now is what can be done to teach World Peace a lesson? But the question, I think, is more about what the league can do to keep Ron Artest at bay after his violent cameo on Sunday afternoon.

Suspending World Peace is the most obvious course of action (not to mention the most likely). Opinions differ on how long World Peace should be suspended for, but it's pretty much a lock that he'll get a vacation. The league simply cannot tolerate its players Fus-Ro-Dah'ing the heads of other players.

However, if the league thinks a suspension is going to destroy Ron Artest altogether, it is sorely mistaken. World Peace will be taught a lesson, but Artest will merely retreat back into whatever hole he crawled into until he feels the need to come out again. While World Peace laments his act, Artest will hide.

Make no mistake about it, there are two people inside Metta World Peace. I don't say that to insult him, or to start any kind of firestorm, I say it merely to point out a very real reality. 

We found out on Sunday that Metta World Peace may not be the stronger of the two personalities, and that's a scary thought. If World Peace can't keep Artest at bay, then World Peace is a mere cloak, a façade easily cast aside.

It's entirely up to World Peace to make sure that his old persona is the weaker of the two. The league can do its best to influence a change, but only World Peace can keep Artest at bay.