Metta World Peace Name Change: Just Call Him The Pandas Friend
Metta World Peace is changing his name again. The former NBA star previously known as Ron Artest has announced that he will soon be known as The Pandas Friend. According to Sportsnet, the basketball player is headed to China to play for the Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association. In honor of his move, he’s giving himself a more fitting name. Apparently there was a report that Artest, er, World Peace was changing his name to “Panda Friend,” but that wasn’t completely correct… so he took to Twitter to clear up any confusion.
Guys my chinese name is not “Panda Friend”, its “The Pandas Friend”.
— mettaworldpeace.com (@MettaWorldPeace) August 7, 2014
Metta World Peace a.k.a. Ron Artest evidently wants to give this move to China a complete go, so perhaps (in his mind) it makes sense that he change his name. Of course this news has gone viral, and Twitter has completely lit up with hilarious tweets about this decision. As The New York Daily News points out, however, it’s unclear whether or not the name change is going to be legalized.
“It’s not clear if the ex-Knicks forward will change his name in any official capacity — as he did in 2011 when he made the switch from Ron Artest to Metta World Peace — or if this is just a nickname he’ll go by.”
Regardless, The Pandas Friend seems excited about moving to China… playing basketball… visiting Pandas… and changing his name. The rest of the world? Well they’re confused, but it’s fine.
Ron Artest AKA Metta World Peace is changing his name to “The Pandas’ Friend” TF typa drugs is this man on
— Nick Jablonski (@Nicky_ROZAY88) August 7, 2014
Ron Artest…I mean Metta World Peace…I mean “The Pandas Friend?” He is playing in China this season so it makes sense hahaha
— Brandon Barta (@Brandon_Barta) August 7, 2014
I’ll take mental illness for $500 Alex.. “@Circa: “Metta World Peace” (a.k.a. Ron Artest) is changing his name to “The Pandas Friend”
— Amy M (@AmyM_KittyGang) August 7, 2014
Time to start the hashtag: #BetterNamesForRonArtest. He’s currently known as “The Pandas Friend” @tdlyda11 @TheBigTroutski
— Keith Spiering (@Kspiering8) August 7, 2014
Metta World Peace has received quite a few decent opportunities in life, even if his chosen name is unusual. For instance, he competed on Dancing With The Stars back in 2011 — he was the first person eliminated (according to The Inquisitr), but that’s neither here nor there.
What do you think of Metta’s new(est) name?
[Photo courtesy of REUTERS via IBTimes]
