Could the Lakers benefit from Metta World Peace's vicious elbow?

When Ron Artest Metta World Peace viciously elbowed James Harden in the head on Sunday, it was obvious to those watching that a suspension was imminent. It was announced today that World Peace will miss seven games as a result of his transgression.

And yet, it is entirely possible that the Los Angeles Lakers will eventually benefit from this disgusting act, a fact I have not seen mentioned in the aftermath of this altercation.

In case you live under a rock:




Harden is currently listed as day-to-day, and further testing will provide a clearer timetable. World Peace's blow behind Harden's ear dealt the Thunder shooting guard a concussion, and with head injuries it is always difficult to determine how long the recovery process must be. He may return in time for the first playoff game, but it is not out of the realm of possibility that Harden misses several weeks of postseason action. Meanwhile, the artist assailant formerly known as Ron Artest will serve his suspension, taking him through most or all of the Lakers' first-round series against the Denver Nuggets (and probably the first few games of the 2nd round, should they advance.)

 Remember Tonya?

Should both the Thunder and Lakers win their first-round matchups (as expected), they will play each other in the second round of this year's NBA Playoffs. If at that point Harden remains sidelined by his concussion, then Los Angeles would arguably have gained a competitive advantage through a disgusting act of violence on national television. Such an event would be nothing short of a travesty. Theoretically, and quite possibly, Metta World Peace may have made his team's path to the Western Conference Finals clearer by elbowing an opponent in the head. From that perspective, I don't see much of a difference between what happened on Sunday and World Peace dropping by Harden's abode and taking a bat to his head (think Tonya Harding): either way, it gets the OKC guard out of the picture. Clearly, this was not Metta's intent, but it may just work out for him after all.

So what can be done to prevent this? Well, first off, Harden's concussion hopefully is not severe enough to hold him out long. But if it does, a real problem emerges, not just for the Thunder, but for the integrity of the NBA as well. And honestly, I'm not so sure that there really is any way that this dilemma could be resolved. The league could have suspended World Peace for a much longer period, say around twelve contests, but doing so would arguably be unfair to the Lakers and World Peace, handing out a harsher penalty because of circumstances not pertaining to the event itself. Now, David Stern could have suspended the small forward for the remainder of the season if he felt that the attack warranted such action, which would certainly take care of this issue. Apparently, he did not.

Is that it, then? If the stars align themselves in a way that a Laker squad with World Peace back in the lineup faces off against the Harden-less Thunder, will an assault victim be forced out of the game while his attacker takes the court? The most likely answer is yes.

But there is one more possibility. About halfway through writing my initial draft of this article, an idea occurred to me, and I decided to rewrite. Will it ever happen? No. But it's a thought.

What if the Lakers voluntarily benched
their star small forward?

If Harden has to sit out against LA in the playoffs, the Lakers could ensure that they do not profit from whatever advantage they may have gained from this scandal. So long as Harden is in street clothes, the Lakers could do the fair thing and not dress World Peace, regardless of whether his punishment has ended. It just seems fundamentally wrong for Metta to play and Harden not to. Will the Lakers do this? No. Should they? It's tough to say. They could easily lose the series as a result, but wouldn't a victory under these circumstances seem hollow?

But that's just an idea, one that could never come to fruition, meant for a utopia where proper justice is always served. Of course, the Lakers will never do this. And really, they shouldn't. It shouldn't be up to them to make a moral decision like that, when they should be focused on advancing in the playoffs. Though I'm sure their front office was disgusted with Metta's behavior, there's no room in the NBA for such selflessness. David Stern was in an equally impossible situation. In the end, there's not much anyone can do.

If only there was a league-mandated equivalent to getting elbowed in the head.

Let's hope such an unfortunate situation never materializes, and Harden recovers in time for the playoffs. If not, we could be in for a very strange series.

Let's also hope Metta uses this time off to continue his rap career. He's off to a promising start.