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Metta World Peace Thought Some People Who Criticized Him for Elbowing James Harden Were Hypocrites

Right around the time he knocked James Harden to the ground with an elbow and got suspended, Metta World Peace was scheduled to appear on Conan O’Brien’s program. He wisely backed out, but not for good – last night, still in the midst of serving that seven-game ban, World Peace took to Conan and talked, of course, about that fateful elbow, as well as the backlash that followed. And while World Peace didn’t seem to have a problem with the suspension itself, he could have done without some of the criticism in the aftermath:

He’s right in that some of the reaction was overblown – for one thing, we don’t think World Peace really meant to hit Harden that hard – or if he was even 100 percent aware of his surroundings in the moment to begin with. Those who acted like he was the dirtiest dirty player who ever dirty-played when stuff like this used to happen overreacted in the heat of the moment, as did those who treated the elbow like it alone undid all the other good stuff World Peace has done in promoting mental health and winning citizenship awards following the Malice at the Palace.

Still… the elbow was brutal. The criticism comes with the territory. He seems to get that, which was why he said he didn’t have a problem with “regular media” getting on him, but… who were the former players criticizing him he was talking about? Because while some ripping of him was over the top… again, he knocked Harden right down. What else are people going to say? Things get heated during games, but you’ve got to stay somewhat under control out there – and that’s especially true for a guy like World Peace, who’s built like a tight end and is therefore one of the guys you’d want to see lose control the least. Just ask James Harden.

Speaking of Harden, also odd that World Peace says he didn’t know how badly he was hurt until the day after, and hasn’t talked to him since the incident. Sure, it’s never clear in the moment how bad an injury is, but Harden was obviously shaken up, and the Thunder held him out for the rest of the game. And once he knew Harden had a concussion, you’d think he’d say something to the guy. Well, at least he’s honest. More video of the interview when it’s up.

UPDATE: It’s up. Here’s World Peace going into a little more detail about the elbow:

His reputation:

Nut-hugger shorts, because why not:

And playing President Obama in one-on-one:

Hey, it couldn’t all be about the elbow.