The Los Angeles Lakers' 98-97 victory over the Detroit Pistons Sunday was certainly not lacking in the fireworks department, and not just because of what happened in the final few minutes. Early in the second quarter, the notoriously-aggressive Metta World Peace got tangled up with Brandon Knight, resulting in a flagrant one for the Lakers' forward.
After the game, World Peace seemed to go out of his way to compliment Knight, emphasizing to Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles that the Pistons' youngster is a "tough kid:"
"He's a small guy," World Peace said after finishing with eight points and nine rebounds in the win. "(Knight) was trying his hardest to keep me off him. He worked hard, man. That kid, I don't know where he's from, I don't know what school he went to, because he was guarding me and I was crashing the boards. He's a tough kid, man. He tried to keep me off the glass and he did a good job. That's all I can say. He's a tough kid, very great. He's a tough point guard or shooting guard or whatever he is."
Knight was not as gracious in his postgame comments. The point guard accused World Peace of throwing a punch and said the play needs to be reviewed by the league for possible further discipline. Knight also cited the fact that World Peace grabbed him around the neck as a reason for his own somewhat-hostile reaction.
World Peace, of course, has a history of incidents on his resume, including getting suspended seven games last season for elbowing James Harden in the head. There was also that whole thing that happened in Detroit back in 2004.
Never a dull moment with Metta World Peace and these Lakers.