December 9, 2024 by Hoops Hype Metta World Peace: “When the Rockets said they wouldn’t bring me back, I was surprised. I wanted to stay. Then my agent said the Lakers wanted to meet. Dr. Buss said, ‘We can’t pay you what you’re worth, but we’d love to have you.’ I didn’t care about the money. I just thought about Kobe, Phil, and Lamar—like this was my chance. The Bulls were my favorite team growing up, but now I was joining the Lakers, a team I admired. I felt like I had sabotaged my career, and now the basketball gods were giving me one more shot.