Metta World Peace delivered a brutal elbow to the head piece of James Harden during the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder’s game Sunday at Staples Center. As with most plays by Artest, we have no clue why he did this but we do know there should be a suspension coming down soon.
Artest was celebrating a fast break dunk he had just finished, and as he was headed back down the court to play defense he encountered Harden. Metta then pounded his chest with his right arm, and as that happened his left elbow was sent smashing into the back of Harden’s head. Harden hit the deck immediately and Serge Ibaka went after Artest, but cooler heads prevailed and Artest was ejected.
James Harden did not return to the game. Below are two videos of the incident which are actually hard to watch given how hard the elbow hits Harden’s head.