It’s well established that Metta World Peace AKA Ron Artest AKA Ron Ron plays his best when harnessing some combination of his raw anger and at the same time manifesting that anger not in confrontation but in ferocious play, inspired defense, and an iron will.

For most of his time with the Lakers, Ron/Metta has lulled Lakers fans with uninspired play combined with a “great” attitude. It seemed as though he had finally put his demons to rest and, in doing so, became a pretty mediocre NBA player.

You can see here an important diagram of what Ron looks like at his best and worst.

For the last few months though, his game has been showing signs of life. With or without Kobe in the lineup, World Peace has ascended back to a place of importance in Los Angeles. In many recent wins, World Peace has been back in the head of his competitors and has even appeared active and engaged on the offensive end. But at what cost.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=so3TR0bcx9k

As outlined in the earlier article, there is a fine line between a Metta World Peace who is lackadaisical, smiling, and happy, a World Peace who goes into the stands in Detroit, and the great player who is somewhere in-between.

On Sunday, James Harden found out the hard way what happens when you find yourself in the heart of Artest’s inner battle.

After dunking on the Thunder on a fast-break, World Peace beat his arm against his chest. James Harden took a few steps toward the baseline and took a step toward Artest, who was celebrating. Like a child sneaking up on a wild animal, Harden never knew what hit him. Unlike a child though, I would argue that Harden had to know what he was getting himself into.

Harden, who has established himself as the third offensive threat on the Thunder this season, felt the need to do something about Ron’s chest-beating. In passively taking that step toward Metta, Harden took an elbow the likes of which haven’t been seen since The Rock retired from wrestling (he is retired, isn’t he?).

I am not arguing that Harden deserved what he got in any way, but he did not have to take that step toward Ron-Ron. He did not have to get in Metta World Peace’s personal space. But he did. And he paid dearly for it.

Here are some questions to ask in the aftermath:

1) How badly was Harden actually hurt? Harden is a savvy guy. He has been since his college days at Arizona State. He could even turn into this generation’s (poor man’s version of) Reggie Miller, kicking and scrapping his way to more points than his talent commands. But if I were Harden, I would have gone down in a heap as well. Having had a basketball concussion before, I think that if Harden plays again within a week, it’s entirely possible that he didn’t get hit as hard as he claimed. He was hit hard, don’t get me wrong. But if you thought you could gain an advantage by painting World Peace as even more of a villain than he already is, wouldn’t you?

2) It was not an accident. World Peace said, “It’s unfortunate that James had to get hit with an unintentional elbow…” Metta, he didn’t have to get hit. You hit him. Perhaps he was running his mouth or trying to stand up to you and that’s why he “had” to get hit.

3) If these two teams meet in the playoffs, will Metta be around? If so, how will the Thunder try to get him to blow up again? Can he be as effective for the Lakers if he is constantly monitoring his behavior and not just playing? I don’t think so.

No matter what suspension the NBA hands down, Metta World Peace isn’t going to learn any kind of lesson. The stigma of being Ron Ron can’t be shed with a name change, smiles, or even by winning citizenship awards. Other players, the media, and the NBA will continue to treat him differently and he will continue to act out. He is a human ticking time bomb and the closest thing to Dennis Rodman the NBA has ever had.

As for Harden, if there really was a lesson to be learned, it’s to steer clear of the beast.

Hopefully Harden learned his lesson… if he even remembers what happened. Because you don’t step to crazy.

Prior to the 2002 Super Bowl, the Rams were 14-point favorites. Everyone talked about how the Rams’ offense was unstoppable. The Patriots set a precedent for team unity by following the Rams individual player introductions by being introduced as a team. They proceeded to grit out a 3-point win for the first of their multiple Super Bowls during the decade. It’s hard to imagine the Patriots as an underdog, but prior to the 2002 Super Bowl they were. And the pundits were wrong.

Also in 2002, the second round of the NBA Playoffs provided a match-up that the pundits and even Las Vegas were drooling over. The two most high-powered and entertaining offenses in the NBA that year were matched-up in what was sure to be a high-scoring series. Because they hoped to see a long series between two fun-to-watch teams, pundits predicted a close matchup.

Side note: While in Las Vegas for my 21st birthday, I put 20 bucks on the “under” in Game 1 of the series. Everyone thought the series would be really high-scoring, and it ended up being so. Game 1, however, was not. My 20 bucks on the under was one of the only sports bets I’ve ever made. Betting against the prevailing wisdom is good to do sometimes.

This morning, ESPN’s NBA experts were talking about how great the upcoming series between Memphis and Oklahoma City would be. They said that the Grizzlies have a great chance to win the series and hyped the series more than any second round series during the past few years.

This is another case of the pundits being wrong. I am picking the Thunder in 5 games. Much like the Mavs-Blazers first-round series, the games will be fun to watch, but the series will never be really in question.

Other predictions:

Lakers over Mavs in Six games.

Heat over Celtics in Six games.

Bulls over Hawks in Five games.