Ron Artest DWTS: Metta World Peace Will Not Survive Long on Dancing Reality Show

Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest—or Metta World Peace, now that his name change has been made official—is one of 12 celebrities taking part in the 13th season of Dancing with the Stars.

The lock-down defender might have quick feet on the court, but that won't equate to much success on the show.

While World Peace would seem like a good dark-horse pick due to the success of prior athletes on the show, Bodog has him at 10-to-1. That is tied for the second-longest shot on the board. He's ahead of only Chaz Bono, according to the odds-makers.

He's even behind fellow Laker Lamar Odom's brother-in-law, Robert Kardashian.

One problem that will hold World Peace back, aside from a likely lack of dancing skills, is that Hope Solo will steal the sports fans' votes. The United States goalkeeper stole the hearts of fans around the country during the team's run to the World Cup Final over the summer.

Solo is the second choice at 4-to-1.

World Peace will be teamed up with Peta Murgatroyd, who will be joining the cast for the first time. Unless she has some special tricks up her sleeve to help World Peace along, they'll most likely be eliminated in the first couple weeks.

The only chance Ron-Ron has of advancing beyond the early stages is if he really let's his personality shine through. If he can expose a national audience to a different side of himself, maybe he can win over some fans and outlast the odds-makers' expectations.

The team, which will probably go by the rhyming name “Metta and Peta,” are one of six teams that will begin the competition with the Cha-Cha-Cha in Week 1 and the Quickstep in Week 2. It's the same combination as Bono, so World Peace will get a good look at his competition (for last place).

A hidden factor that will work against World Peace is Bono being a controversial figure. The producers know controversy helps ratings, so they will paint Bono in a positive light so they he'll get the sympathy vote. With the athlete vote to Solo and the sympathy vote to Bono, World Peace is running out of avenues.

Metta World Peace has surprised fans before, but don't count on it happening this time.

The season starts with a two-hour season premiere tonight on ABC.