NBA
Metta World Peace Wants to Team Up With His Former Bosses to Bring the NBA to Las Vegas
Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sportscasting, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he's a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie. Growing up loving Shaquille O'Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he's continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives. As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He's barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe's big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level. Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.
Get to know Joe Kozlowski betterPublished13 Nov 2022
Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of colorful characters grace the NBA stage. One of those was Metta World Peace. While you may remember the forward for his name changes and questionable choices, he also proved to be a tough defender and a capable three-point shooter. With all of that being said, though, you probably haven’t thought too intensely about the St. John’s product in a while.
That could be changing in the near future.
While it’s been a while since World Peace hit the NBA hardwood, he could be getting back into the professional game, albeit as an owner. Let’s break it all down.
Metta World Peace is interested in teaming up with the Maloof brothers to bring an NBA team to Las Vegas
After a professional athlete retires, it’s fairly standard to see them try to stay connected to the game. It’s tough, on a human level, to devote your entire life to one field, then suddenly flip the switch.
Metta World Peace has somewhat followed that path. After calling it an NBA career, he’s made occasional appearances in other leagues, like the Big3, and briefly worked as a coach within the Lakers system. Now, he could have his eye on another way to dabble in basketball: ownership.
At this point, it seems safe to assume that the NBA will eventually bring an expansion team to Las Vegas. Should that happen, the former forward is ready to pitch in.
“I’m very interested in talking with different groups to see if they would allow us the opportunity to get involved,” World Peace told The Sporting Tribune. “I think you have to somehow involve the Maloofs. I think the Maloofs set the tone for Las Vegas.”
The Maloofs, of course, are the Maloof family, who World Peace knows from their time owning the Kings. While the NBA franchise has since changed hands, the family does have ties to Las Vegas and controls a minority share of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.
“I love the Maloofs and I would like to work with the Maloofs again,” World Peace explained. “They have been nothing but family to me. I think just having an advisory board with the Maloofs on it makes perfect sense. It just shows that you’re coming into the city with some respect. It shows that you’re coming into the city, understanding that the foundation was laid by the Maloofs.”
Some of the breadcrumbs make sense, but it’s unclear if World Peace will be involved
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In fairness to Metta World Peace, the idea of a Maloof-owned NBA team in Las Vegas isn’t the most-outlandish idea around. The family, as mentioned above, has ties to both pro sports and Sin City. Their previous ownership stint wasn’t great, but it didn’t consist of cartoonish levels of super-villainy, either. The major offense was being uninterested in Sacramento and wanting to move the franchise, which could suggest they’re happy to get back into the basketball space as long as they’re in a different market.
From the NBA’s perspective, putting a team in the desert also makes sense. The NFL and NHL have already proven that the Vegas’ population — whether it’s tourists, locals, or anyone else — can sustain a pro sports franchise. If anything, Adam Silver and company are late to the game.
The rub, however, is adding Metta World Peace to the equation. With all due respect to the former forward, he doesn’t really move the needle. His estimated $70 million net worth (h/t Celebrity Net Worth) is a drop in the bucket when it comes to an NBA franchise, and he’s not quite of the stature to be a part of the process for name recognition. Even if the star’s investment group can raise the $1 billion that Bloomberg suggests it’s targeting, it’s fair to wonder how much of that money could be allotted to basketball-related businesses.
For contrast, let’s consider LeBron James. The star has spoken about wanting to own a team in Vegas. If you’re the Maloofs, wouldn’t you rather partner with him for both the financial backing and global celebrity factor?
At this point, though, we’re just dealing in hypotheticals. We do know, however, that an NBA team is probably coming to Sin City at some point, and if/when that happens, Metta World Peace is interested.
