Metta Sandiford-Artest, the NBA Champion formerly known as Metta World Peace and Ron Artest appeared on today’s episode of Scoop B Radio.
A retired 19-year NBA vet with stints playing for the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers, Sandiford-Artest praised Houston Rockets All Star, Alperen Sengun and shared that he sees a comparison between the Turkish star and Sandiford-Artest’s former Lakers teammate, Pau Gasol.
Alperen Sengun The New Pau Gasol?
“It’s the kid from the Rockets; Alperen Şengun,” he said on Scoop B Radio.
“The big center! I like him.”
Pau Gasol certainly cemented himself as one of the most dominant seven-footers to enter the league. The Lakers legend was unique in the fact that he blended his size and skill to apply pressure on any opponent.
Sengun made history this month by becoming the second Turkish player to earn an NBA All-Star selection; joins Mehmet Okur, who made the All-Star Game in 2007.
Sandiford-Artest’s seal of approval of Sengun is warranted. This season, the Rocket is averaging 19.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per contest for a surging Rockets teammate under the leadership of head coach Ime Udoka. Sandiford-Artest’s praise echoes what Indiana Pacers big man Myles Turner shared about Sengun. “I like the kid from Houston, Alperen Şengun,” Turner told me.
“I like the way he plays and I like the way he carries himself. His court vision is crazy and so he’s one of my favorite guys to watch.”
Metta Sandiford-Artest, Weighs In On American Centers vs. Europan Big Men
While the traditional role of an NBA center is to score in the low post and rebound the basketball, today’s modern big man like the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, the Sacramento Kings’ Domantas Sabonis and the Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo have additional skill sets that benefit their teams like anchoring a zone defense and being elite playmakers and passers. While chatting with Scoop B Radio, Metta Sandiford-Artest gave an interesting perspective on the role of today’s center in basketball.
“The center issues that we have here in America, well… a lot of our potential pros are in prison,” he said.
“So that’s the one thing. Because a lot of us were trying to survive and then we got involved in the streets, so a lot of our talent is in prison. And then they had so many handcuffs on the center. So the big African-American centers — they had so many handcuffs on their skill sets and they couldn’t have any freedom very reminiscent of history, but then you have the overseas players who came here with much more freedom so then we had to catch up. So now the U.S. players are catching up. We’ve got to give the players more freedom and then also to see more athletic talent, we have to somehow fix the system and that’s gonna translate into more players especially of our descent.”
Sandiford-Artest Reveals Why His Time As A Houston Rocket Was Better Than His Time With the Los Angeles Lakers
A recipient of the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2004, Sandiford-Artest was selected by the Bulls with the 16th pick in the 1999 NBA Draft out of St. Johns University.
Playing alongside Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, he was part of the 2010 Lakers Championship team. The defensive juggernaut is beloved by the purple and gold for his role in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals when he scored 20 points and made a clutch three-pointer with one minute remaining in the game. Be that as it may, when queried as to what version of himself was the best version of himself during his lengthy NBA career, he shared that his time in a Houston Rockets uniform was his favorite.. “I think ‘08-’09 specifically in that playoffs where the Houston Rockets were playing the Lakers,” he told Scoop B Radio.
“They don’t really show those highlights because they’re just gonna show how good I really was… but it showed how — it really showed how people just couldn’t guard me. They had NO chance!”
While Sandiford-Artest says the Rockets version of himself was his favorite, he was still gracious to the Lakers. “Well, the Lakers version was good,” he tells Scoop B Radio.
“But, it was gratefully and rightfully so overshadowed by some better players in Pau and Kobe. So I had to take on a different role, but on the Lakers I was really REALLY good… but I had to take on a different role.”
Fair enough.
Sandiford-Artest Discusses Hip Hop, 50 Cent & Nas
A native of Queens, New York, Metta Sandiford-Artist released a rap album in 2006 called My World. Published under Lightyear Records under his own imprint, Tru Warier Records, Sandiford-Artest’s album had guest features from Nature and Capone, Juvenile, Mike Jones, Big Kap and P.Diddy.
Fast forward to 2025, the artist formerly known as Ron Artest and Metta World Peace gave his Mount Rushmore of hip hop artists. “I would put Nas,” he said.
“I would put Shady [Eminem]. I’m putting Canibus. I really love Canibus. He had an unfortunate bad break — politics. I’ll put LL (Cool J)… Who else am I gonna put?…. MC Juice from Chicago. Juice is nice! A lot of people don’t know. Real people know about Juice.”
He also shared his interactions that he had with fellow Queens native, Nas when he was a teenager.
“I remember I was young and I saw Nas; he was in a minivan with his boys and I remember he came out and they were saying, “Nas is coming around to say what’s up to you…” and I think I was 14 or 15 and it was the first time I ever met him even though we lived in the same hood. I remember that he had a diamond bracelet on [laughs]. I remember being a kid and I still remember that moment.
“I forget exactly what he said but, it was great because I always wanted to meet him and I was coming up and then they made it a point, Hey you gotta go see Metta… he was on the 41st Side on 12th Street which was Mobb Deep’s block. And so, he took time out of his busy schedule to come check me out. So, Nas is definitely the most — still to this day my favorite.”
He also discussed his relationship and interactions with 50 Cent, also from Queens.
“A lot of people know 50. I’m from Long Island City, he’s from Southside and a lot of friends overlapped. He signed Mobb Deep. Nas almost signed him. He was with the Trackmasters; it’s so much history there. And so, the first time I met him, it was an easy vibe and even to this day when I see him it’s an easy vibe because we know so many of the same people and he’s just 50 from Queens and we’re like one person removed a lot of the time. But I know 50 and he makes great music and he’s a great businessman.”
Metta Sandiford-Artest discussed tons on Scoop B Radio. You can watch the full interview by clicking here.
