The First-Ever

Most Notable Snubbed Gunslinger

Metta Sandiford- Artest

Formerly known as Ron Artest; formerly known as Metta World Peace; now known as the first-ever Most Notable Snubbed Gunslinger (and Metta Sandiford-Artest).

While the world was busy in 1999 preparing for Y2K, it should have been preparing for Ron Artest, who was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2000, snubbed from the NBA All-Rookie First Team in a cryptic precursor to our unfortunate snubbing of this Great Gunslinger from the 2022 and 2023 SLP Top Gunslinger Polls.

In his early NBA years, Artest was simply warming up his gunslinging, the way one might stretch at the beginning of a workout. Wasting no time in living up to his apparent 2003 New Year’s Resolution of being a better gunslinger, on January 3 Artest took an unpopular anti-technology stance in those early internet days by smashing a monitor and TV camera and then following it up later that month by giving the Miami crowd the finger and yelling at Pat Riley.

But that was mere child’s play—or “BB Gunplay” as they say in the gunslinger world—to how Artest would increase his gunslinging credentials the following year. It started with Artest asking for a month off during the season to focus on his rap album. And honestly the Pacers should have listened to him if they knew what was best for their team. But the gunslinging gods intervened and facilitated what was best for gunslinging history.

Because less than a month later, when Artest would still have been on his leave working on his music (likely some gunslinging bangers), one of the biggest consequential events in the history of gunslinging happened: The Malice in the Palace, where he went into the stands of The Palace of Auburn Hills, the home of the Detroit Pistons, and punched a fan—but not the correct fan, not the fan that had caused Artest’s ire by throwing cup at him while he was laying on the scorer’s table as Ben Wallace was trying to fight him following Artest’s unnecessarily hard foul at the end of the game Artest’s Pacers had already secured.

The incident resulted in suspensions for Artest, Jermaine O’Neal, and Stephen Jackson—the core of the Pacers youth movement that had helped make the Pacers the best NBA in the league in Reggie Miller’s 18th and ultimately final season before the suspensions derailed the Pacers and Miller’s best chance at an NBA title.

While Artest’s actions were certainly unacceptable, it should also be noted that many fans acted completely out of line—even criminally—that night. With little law enforcement intervention, it became like the Wild West.

Artest continued his gunslinging ways by later demanding a trade from the Pacers, which alienated players and execs in the organization who felt they had backed him during that incident.

Artest spent short stints in Sacramento and Houston where, for his great gunslinging standards, laid somewhat low while continuing to establish himself as a great all-around player whose great defense and efficient offense are often found on championship teams.

And he would find himself on such a championship team in L.A., where he helped the Lakers defeat the Boston Celtics in 7 games with Artest’s absolutely clutch Game 7 performance that will (right now) go now in Gunslinging lore forever. But even better than his performance was his humbly gunslinging postgame interview where he took responsibility for his actions in Detroit—the lowest moment of his career—during the highest moment of his career in winning an iconic championship.

The next year Artest would add to his more mature, spiritually-informed gunslinging by changing his name to Metta World Peace.

He continued his basketball career and gunslinging ways by taking his basketball and gunslinging talents overseas to China and Italy before returning to returning to the Lakers where he finished his NBA career. After ultimately concluding his basketball career in 2019 with the ABA’s San Diego Kings, he would change his name again the following year to his current Metta-Sandiford Artest, the name we etch in history as the first-ever Most Notable Snubbed Gunslinger.

Ron Artest is such a notable gunslinger, Babyface Ray honored him with the popular song “Ron Artest.” And we honor him here with the Special Gunslinger Award, the first-ever in its category: Most Notable Snubbed Gunslinger.

Just as he was able to overcome mistakes, like that night at The Palace of Auburn Hills, to reach the pinnacle of his career in winning a championship and life by finding balance, we have followed his gunslinging footsteps by overcoming our mistakes, like snubbing this great Gunslinger from both the 2022 and 2023 Top Gunslinger Polls, and reach the height of our profession here by honoring him with the Special Gunslinger Award of Most Notable Snubbed Gunslinger.