Another Name Change For Metta World Peace?

Although it looks like his career in the NBA is over, the brawler formerly known as Ron Artest hasn’t lost his headline-generating abilities. Metta World Peace, who is currently playing for Sichuan Blue Whales in China, is again in the news because of a name change—this time from a world away.

MWP first tweeted out a teaser regarding his alleged plans, revealing nothing but promising his fans they would love his China-inspired new moniker.

Twitter: @MettaWorldPeace

Based on several of his retweets, Metta World Peace’s name was initially speculated to be “Panda Friend,” which was close, but not entirely accurate. Six days after his first teaser, MWP took to Twitter again to clear up the confusion.

Twitter: @MettaWorldPeace

Ah yes! It’s a good thing M.W. Peace addressed that mistake, otherwise people were liable to think he was crazy or something.

At this point the name change only exists in the tweets of a crazy man, and there’s a very good chance nothing will ever come of it. That being said, The Panda’s Friend is no more ridiculous than Metta World Peace—at least it has some context—and he has pulled the trigger before.

Obviously this doesn’t even begin to qualify as “news,” but when public figures do stupid things, it’s our duty to point and laugh.