“If I showed you my abs right now, you would leave your husband straight away”
The physical transformations at the dawn of the start of the season are nothing new in the NBA. A little over 10 years ago, an All-Star was, for example, ultra-proud of his stature, to the point of throwing a daring punchline at a reporter on his abs!
If most of the speeches given during Media Day are intended to be quite repetitive year after year, everyone’s state of form can change drastically from one season to another. A few stars known for their extra pounds will thus undergo a real metamorphosis during the summer, and shock journalists when they return to the courts. This was particularly the case in the ranks of the Lakers, in 2011.
The cheeky exit of Metta World Peace on his abs
After a lockout that postponed the start of the season by more than two months, some members of the league were able to arrive at the facilities of their franchise with a certain overweight. This is for example what had been reproached to Ron Artest, who at the time bore the name of Metta World Peace. The latter then reacted to these accusations with an unexpected response to a reporter:
« If I showed you my abs right now you’d probably leave your husband »
Metta Sandiford-Artest when a reporter asked if he was out of shape💀 pic.twitter.com/Vx6fGAnKfq
— Basketballismyreligion (@basketballimr) September 18, 2022
Metta Sandiford-Artest: The coach told me that a guy had said that I was out of shape, and that I should lose weight.
Journalist : Are you out of shape? Do you find that to be the case?
Metta Sandiford-Artest: If I showed you my abs right now, you’d leave your husband right away.
Journalist : Can we see them right away?
Metta Sandiford-Artest: No.
A completely lunar exchange, and which might not go so well these days. Anyway, “World Peace” then seemed proud of his physical condition… when he really had nothing to be. Indeed, a few months later, he shared a photo on Twitter showing that he weighed more than 120 kilos at the time, before losing ten during the season.
A poor form which is also reflected in its performance, down sharply from a numerical point of view compared to the previous year. He thus concluded this 2011-12 campaign with low averages of 7.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists. Not enough to support Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol in their task, nor to take the Angelinos further than the Western Conference Semifinals that year.
A good client of the media during his heyday, Metta Sandiford-Artest displayed at the same time an overflowing confidence, which sometimes pushed him to make such statements. All this while he was clearly overweight! Holy Ron.
