Metta World Peace: Exit Interview Evaluation of Los Angeles Lakers Is Correct

For someone that has flashed some of the more irrational behavior the sports world has ever seen, Metta World Peace can be astonishingly astute. 

He put the latter trait on display at his exit interview following the Lakers' elimination from the playoffs at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Mike Trudell had a summary and many of the quotes from his interview on the Los Angeles Lakers' official Website.

In this interview, World Peace hit on many of the glaring issues plaguing the Lakers. 

There was a clear lack of aggression in this Lakers team. When the going got rough in this postseason, the only players on the court aggressively seeking their shots were Kobe Bryant and Metta. 

The Orange County Register's Kevin Ding had tweeted out a nice quote speaking to this.

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Metta: "At the end of the game, guys got to trust themselves more. Not myself, but sometimes guys look to Kobe too much."

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"— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) May 22, 2012"

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As Trudell pointed out, Metta admitted that he even had a problem with this his first season, but he learned to be more assertive in the offense. His teammates would benefit from having that same attitude.

They can't simply defer to Kobe time and again because he is one of the greatest players ever. They have to play their game and help the team when they can. That helps open things up for everyone.

Metta also spent time discussing the Lakers' ability to dominate inside. But, pointing to Game 2 against the Thunder as an example, Metta "lamented that they couldn’t do it more consistently," Trudell noted.

Metta is not unique in this opinion. Nearly everyone who watched the Lakers these playoffs wondered why they strayed from the inside game as often as they did. For stretches, they were absolutely dominant in the interior. 

As Ding tweeted, Metta even went so far as to say:

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Metta: "Bynum is the most dominant player on the floor every night, if I'm not mistaken. Shaq's not in the NBA anymore. Dwight's hurt."

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"— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) May 22, 2012"

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Bynum definitely proved this to be true, for stretches, but he disappeared far too often to be considered truly dominant. 

That load should fall on Bynum first and the coaching staff second. Metta, however, is not going to blame the coaches. 

Trudell pointed out that he made the classic point that it wasn't the coaches out there missing shots, making bad decisions or coming in out of shape following the lockout. 

His last point set up a classic World Peace moment:

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“Mike didn’t come in out of shape” … then he reconsidered, and said, laughingly, “wait he did come in out of shape … he’s a fat#&@.”

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This was a classic World Peace interview: candid, insightful and a little crazy. The Lakers players, coaches and front office will be well served to pay attention.