—Evan Pine
With the Los Angeles Lakers’ forgettable season coming to an end, it was time for 37-year-old Metta World Peace to hang up his jersey. President of Basketball Operations, Magic Johnson said that the Lakers ‘probably’ won’t bring him back next season. World Peace then announced his retirement via Twitter thanking the entire Lakers organization. He seemed satisfied with the way the organization has treated him over the course of 6 seasons and did not appear to have any hard feelings about the business decision.
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Despite only playing 6 minutes and averaging about 2 points per contest, World Peace provided veteran leadership that numbers can’t measure. With young talent including D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and Brandon Ingram, the Lakers are in desperate need of some type of veteran leadership for the upcoming 2017-2018 season.
In terms of Metta’s future, it would not be surprising to see him continue to contribute to the team off the court. His memorable 3-pointer to help secure the 2010 Championship and his passion for the game do not hurt his case for remaining with the Lakers organization.
Looking forward to the future, the Lakers hope to land a 3-three draft pick in the upcoming draft. Although the odds of landing a 3-three pick are only 47 percent, many Laker fans seem optimistic of this happening. The team has been in the rebuilding phase for the last four seasons and have been surpassed as L.A’s favorite team to the Dodgers according to a survey.
Newly hired Magic Johnson plans on changing their culture and bringing back their winning tradition. “We’re going to look at every scenario. We’re going to look at every option. This town and this team — the Lakers — have always had a superstar. And that’s what we’re going to try to bring in here,” said Magic on Rodney Peete and Fred Roggin on AM 570.
The team is missing the sense of excitement that previous teams had brought to Los Angeles. As time the clock keeps ticking, Laker fans are starting to get impatient. Will the Lakers draft a franchise player and/or will they acquire a big name through a trade? Only time will tell.
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