Metta in the morning: May 12, 2013

April 26, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers small forward Metta World Peace (15) controls the ball against the San Antonio Spurs during the first half in game three of the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Lakers News:

▷ Los Angeles Defenders, Mark Madsen in ‘serious talks’

‘Madsen, a former 29th overall selection by the Lakers in 2000, was hired as an assistant coach at his alma mater Stanford. Turns out he could be making his way to a new sideline in LA.’

▷ Rutgers’ Jordan has no degree

“Jordan was hired following the the heavily published dismissal of Mike Rice in hopes of helping the school turn over a new lead. Yeah, that’s not going so well.”

▷ Dwight does not have guts to leave Lakers, endure media assault

“You see, Dwight Howard is too much of a Dwight Coward to leave the Los Angeles Lakers like he left the Orlando Magic. He doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude to do it. He’s not tough enough to endure the flood of criticism from the national media that would surely come if he left the exalted, illustrious, grandiloquent Lakers.”

‘WTF’ NBA headline of the day:

▷ Twitter has fun with J.R.’s illness

“If Smith really is just sick—and it seems only fair to take what the team is saying as the truth—it’s still his fault for making the off-court decisions that open him up to these kinds of jabs.”

Controversial NBA headline of the day:

▷ The 10 dirtiest players in NBA history

“Kobe Bryant has softened a bit in his old age, but that doesn’t mean the stuff he did in his youth never happened, nor does it mean he’s still not just a little bit dirty.”

Did you know:

Kobe Bryant lived in Italy for eight years while his father played professional basketball there. He speaks Italian fluently.

Metta World Peace fact of the day:

World Peace was suspended for 86 games after the ‘Malice in the Palace’ – an NBA record.

Metta World Peace tweet of the day:

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