The Los Angeles Lakers announced the hiring of James Worthy on the same day they introduced Metta World Peace for the 2015-16 season. Why are those two acts related? Both World Peace and Worthy expect to come in and assist in the development of the Lakers' young front court with particular focus paid to mentoring promising prospect Julius Randle.
"James was one of the best forwards to ever play the game," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a statement. "We feel he will be a valuable addition to the coaching staff and will do an excellent job teaching our group of big men. We are pleased and fortunate to welcome him back to the organization."
Beyond Randle, the Lakers also have unknown commodities with uniquely special athletic abilities in Tarik Black and Larry Nance Jr. Black joined the roster off waivers a season ago, and Nance came via the Lakers' late first round draft pick in 2015. Worthy expects to travel to Hawaii and work with the team during training camp, though he will still retain his job with TWC SportsNet as an analyst.
In a similar yet different manner, World Peace returned to the Lakers as a player, but his true value appears to be in mentoring and teaching the Lakers' young, strong big men--namely Black and Randle.
"Metta is extremely focused," teammate Kobe Bryant said. "He watches what he eats. He works very, very hard every single day in practice. I think it's good for the young guys to be around that."
As Bryant stated, World Peace would teach by example, rather than necessarily leading film sessions or walking around with a clipboard.
"I don't know about 'teaching' more than just showing (Randle), giving advice and taking him through different scenarios--different things I've been through and different things I've seen on the court," World Peace described the art of teaching without calling it 'teaching.'
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When asked about being in this new mentorship role, World Peace said, "It just happens with time. You get older and guys are coming into the league younger as you get older, and that's what you're supposed to do. You help the young guys so that they can have successful careers."
Taking a roster spot, however, World Peace hopes to be more than simply a coach on the bench. Being a 35-year-old, who turns 36 in November, though, left the veteran sounding modest when asked if he would be able to keep up with the pace of the game: "Only time will tell."
World Peace, to his credit, is welcoming the evolution of his career. He talked about coaching as an assistant for the girls and boys teams at Palisades High School. Also, his travels to China and Italy brought about the experience of two wildly different types of basketball. According to World Peace, Chinese basketball applauds the individual performance over the team result, while Italian basketball falls on the exact opposite end of that spectrum.
"I've been really focused on the mental aspect," World Peace spoke about his growth in recent years. "I think about the game more."
