Oakland

Magic Johnson Not Interested in Keeping World Peace

The Los Angeles Lakers started exit interviews on Thursday morning, and the first interview dropped a bomb

On Thursday morning, a somber and serious Metta World Peace walked into the interview room at the Los Angeles Lakers' practice facility in El Segundo.

Asked to describe his exit meeting with Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson, general manager Rob Pelinka and coach Luke Walton, World Peace didn't wait long to share the rather harsh message.

"It was good, you know, exit meetings, you figure out how the season went," World Peace said before spilling the beans on the real takeaway. "And then, we also talk about I, uh, they're probably not going to bring me back."

Asked again to clarify, World Peace stated in a straight forward manner, "Yea, Magic said he's probably not going to bring me back, but it was good. I had a nice time."

World Peace said he did not expect to hear the news, but he put that on being focused on keeping in shape and getting through the season. Only a couple days earlier, the 37-year-old spoke about how if there was even a one percent chance to make a team, he would take that gamble.

Asked precisely if there was even a one percent chance of returning or the door being left ajar in any manner, World Peace said, "No, no, no. I don't think so. It was still a good thing. I got a chance to come back and play. It was fun."

World Peace said that he was not emotional about the Lakers' chapter being closed. When asked about what his next chapter would be, World Peace reminded reporters that it had only been a few hours since Wednesday night's game wrapped up in Oakland and that he'd only been given the news a couple minutes earlier. In short, he wasn't sure, but he said he didn't need to rush either.

"Obviously, one day I do want to coach," World Peace said when asked if it may be time to call time on his career. "It just depending on what that time is going to come, but as of yesterday, I enjoy playing, so I was thinking about playing basketball somewhere at a gym."

World Peace added, "So, if I still enjoy it, I'm going to do it."

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Asked about playing overseas, as World Peace had previously played in Italy and in China, the veteran didn't seem excited by the prospect of leaving the United States to play basketball again.

What the future holds for World Peace is yet to be determined, but seemingly, the Lakers no longer have any interest in keeping the (World) Peace as a player, anyway.

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