Monday, April 23rd, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  249 responses

James Harden Has a Concussion from Metta World Peace’s Elbow


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Metta World Peace’s elbow to the head of James Harden yesterday afternoon, resulted in a concussion for the OKC Thunder’s star forward.

At the moment, there’s no telling when Harden will return to the court. The leading candidate for the NBA’s Sixth Man Award this season must first pass a battery of tests, under the League’s newly-instituted concussion policy.

Reports the Oklahoman:

Once he’s considered free of concussion symptoms, Harden must make it through increasing stages of exertion — from riding a stationary bike, to jogging, to agility work, to individual basketball skills — while ensuring the symptoms don’t return after each stage. If Harden passes each test the team then has to consult with Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, the director of the NBA’s concussion program, to determine when Harden can return.

A team spokesman said Harden passed league-mandated testing at halftime, and Harden originally was set to return to the game. But the team’s medical staff prevented Harden from returning because of concern with his condition, the spokesman said. Harden later was diagnosed with a concussion. He was not made available to the media following the game and was unresponsive to multiple attempts to gauge his health when seen outside of the locker room. Harden did fly back to Oklahoma City with the team. But concussions can be puzzling, making the timeline for Harden’s return a mystery to all.

Players and coaches on both the Lakers and Thunder (and others watching it on TV) were critical of the vicious elbow, and Metta World Peace did issue an apology to James Harden, calling the incident “unintentional.”

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , , ,

← Older Comments
Newer Comments →
  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Nah BETCATS, watch the replay.
    Right forearm, Harden pushes Artest with it as Ron is celebrating and moving away. It wasn’t a hard push adn wasn’t a big deal and Artest clearly threw a “Get the f(uck off me elbow” in response that was unnecessary. But Harden is pushing him with the right forearm. I saw it immediately when it happened without the replay.
    Look at the replay, a natural response to someone coming up on your left side is to push off with your left arm. Harden is hitting Artest with his right arm. That’s not “accidental” man.
    But this in NO WAY JUSTIFIES WHAT ARTEST DID.
    Just wanted to make that clear. It was reckless and dangerous and incredibly, INCREDIBLY STUPID. It just wasn’t evil. I think that’s the distinction I’m making. Stupid and dangerous happens, Evil deserves a much harsher punishment.
    But that’s just my opinion, which in the long run has no bearing on the world of basketball.

  • http://slamonline.com The Philosopher

    It was a bounty…

  • everynowhere

    i don’t think artest was trying to hit harden’s head with the elbow. HE CLEARLY WANTED TO HIT HIM. i just don’t think he was aiming for the head. Either way, suspension for the rest of the season isn’t an outlandish punishment.

  • EJ

    Artest’s gonna get more than Love for sure. Love is a first time offender as far as I know, and Artest did more damage, so he’s probably gonna get a little more.

  • http://bleacher lexie

    I do not think that World Peace ment to do that. I was watching the game, Peace was excited about making the basket. Harden was right by him,Peace was not even looking at him.

  • http://slamonline.com The Philosopher

    The kid, Artest, has always had a little old school in him.

  • Geoff

    He wasn’t aiming because he simply didn’t give a sh*t where it landed. The amount of force with which he threw that bow WAS malicious. I don’t see how that could be looked at any other way.

  • Iggi

    Unintentional my ass, that was a total cheap shot. You can see on Artest eyes that he knew Harden was there.

  • http://slamonline.com The Philosopher

    Oh, and that is child’s play compared to the kinds of elbows William Cartwright used to throw.
    Well, not really child’s play, but yes, it’s wasn’t that uncommon for a guy to do something like that back in the day, as another commenter earlier alluded to.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    The elbow was pretty hard. Crazy hard considering how strong Artest is.

  • James Aka…

    A blow the the base of the skull can with that force could end a mans life. JTaylor21 wins the Bill O’Reilly award for most slanted take on a current event.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Ehhh… I agree with AllenP’s thoughts.

  • http://www.crappyrappers.com Simon Caine

    Kevin Love literally stomped on someone’s face. Which is much more criminal and dangerous than an intentional/unintentional elbow. He gets two games, Ron should get two games.

  • http://www.crappyrappers.com Simon Caine

    Most people in street fights even make sure to stop/break it up before it comes to stomping on someone’s head. Just saying.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    idk if you have just never seen an intentional face stomp or what, but what Kevin Love did does not classify. He stepped on Scola’s chin. He didn’t stomp on his face.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    nbk, spitting the truth. I’m tired of the ‘face stomp’. This isn’t a “fatal blow to the head.” Or a “jail-able offense.” Both men were caught up in the moment and people were in the wrong place while they were getting hyped. Who’s fault is it with K-Love or Artest? Their own, but lets quit acting like they are dogs loose off their chain. They are grown men that got caught up like we all do sometimes. As long as they apologize and move forward they will be fine and we shouldn’t treat them like savages.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Well, he tried to step on him.
    Where his foot landed may have been accidental, but he clearly tried to step on him and added a little extra ooomph.
    But I do agree with the fact that where he hit Harden is crazy dangerous. I told my wife that he could have killed him if he hit him right. And yes, the same could be said for Love, but unfortunately Artest is going to also be punished for being Artest and for having this happen on national TV.

  • bike

    To some extent, his history should factor in. This would not have been such a big deal for many nba players—elbows get thrown, jaws get busted, fines and punishment follow. But this is a guy who is volatile and potentially dangerous. He doesn’t seem to be able to control himself or learn from the past.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    I am not arguing whether or not Love meant to step on him. But he didn’t mean to hurt him, he didn’t show more than frustration. Artest showed pure aggression. He clearly meant to throw an elbow, to clear space or cause damage idk, but he didn’t show any remorse. Which is what makes it so bad. The damage Love could have possibly done with how he stepped on Scola was minimal, I just watched that replay again. Artest could have seriously seriously hurt Harden.

  • http://www.fullc0urtpress.com KHOLIDAY

    Not defending Metta World War at all, but where the hell was James Harden running to after Metta’s dunk? I think 5 games is fair for Metta.

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    Love stomped on Scola’s face, don’t give me that chin nonsense. Also, when did the chin stop becoming a part of the face?

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    Watch that replay again Taylor, please try and justify that as a stomp. I know you know what a stomp is. I am not arguing that what Love did wasn’t dirty but it’s not at all of the severity of this elbow. Not anywhere close.

  • Otis

    @KHoliday – watch the video again. He’s not running anywhere. He’s stepping up to receive the inbounds.

  • nan

    what is with all the partying anyway??wow you made a basket!!not like he just won the game!!still down 3 at half-time at home …playing one of the best teams!!

  • http://www.fullc0urtpress.com KHOLIDAY

    You guys must’ve grown up in really nice neighborhoods. Kevin Love’s incident was far from a stomp. Running on Scola’s face is a more appropriate description, but he definitely didn’t stomp . Had Love stomped, Scola would’ve been out cold.

  • Mack

    “Artest has 60 pounds on Ibaka” lmaoooo not even close

  • http://aol dante

    Mette world peace is a nice guy, a lot of emotion or an emotional guy and as far as I understand he is very involved in many charities (helping people and then some) the configuration of his head is a bit out of shape , I question if he had an accident when he was a child ????

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    All right, maybe it wasn’t a stomp in terms of the definition but it still could have caused serous damage to Scola’s face/head because of the way his skull bounced off the hardwood.
    The point I’m trying to make is that Artest’s actions didn’t seem intentional while Love’s did.

  • http://www.fullc0urtpress.com KHOLIDAY

    @otis it sort of looks to me like he’s impeding Metta’s path. Like I said before, not defending Metta at all, but it just seemed like a set up. Like he wanted to bump Metta at the very least or something. Plus Westbrook was right there to inbound the ball to as well. Either way, he almost got his head taken off, which was crazy. Metta bugged out on this one! They will punish him to the fullest extent given his track record.

  • alphabeta

    I agree with bike, Stern should just axe this mofo. Actually, ban him from the NBA period. People like Iverson are struggling to get back into this league for not wanting to come of the bench, for which I don’t blame him, because his is a future HOF. On the other hand we got this baboon who went into the stands for UFC tryouts vs. the fans, and is still in this league. Just watch, someone will have a serious injury playing with “Meant No Peace”, if they just keep suspending him for a few games. With the shear force he hit Harden, he could have easily had intracranial bleeding.

  • Heals

    @da real 11:40, did you watch the game with a tin foil hat and matching outfit those are some trampoline like jumps to conclusions? Ditto PaulH @11:24, consider my mind boggled. You’d swear by some of those trying to defend (???) this that there 2 different incidents. And judging by some comments in here it’s clear folks bringing up KLo’s 2 games as a fair comparison didn’t see happen…

  • http://slamonline house

    Ban MWP for rest of season I say, I hope Harden makes a full recovery after being hit with such a completely un-called for and utterly cheap move.

  • http://www.soundcloud.com/tray-5 T-Ray

    Anyone who said he deserves jail time is a dumba$$. I think a 5 game suspension is suffice.

  • http://wikipedia.org Eddie1

    Man if that was Jeremy Lin, kid woulda turned to dust instead of just a concussion. Hope Harden has no other issues. Six game suspension sounds about right.

  • http://slamonline house

    @jTaylor: how the hell can you even come up up with the statement that Artest’s elbow didn’t seem intentional, how the hell can you defend that crap. Take off your Metta World Peace glasses and come back to reality.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    What about what MWP didn’t seem “intentional?” The blow to the head, i understand that that wasn’t intentional. But he definitely, 100% threw the elbow. He knew there was someone next to him. And he knew it wasn’t a Laker or Official. Again, if he didn’t, he would have stopped to check after contact was made. From all accounts Ron Artest is a nice guy off the court, even one of the nicest in the league. But he also loses his cool at the drop of a hat. He clearly lost his concentration, or got caught up in the moment last night, but that doesn’t change how much of a danger he is. If it wasn’t intentional, wouldn’t that make it even worse anyway? That makes him completely unpredictable, and makes a punishment pointless. He may do that to his wife after bowling his 3rd strike in a row next time he’s bowling if that’s the case.

  • Heals

    Please don’t pro create lexie, please…

  • BeefWellington

    The NBA needs to develop some degree of transparancy when handing out punishment. It seems too subjective and I think with MWP the hammer will fall – I’m guessing suspension for the entire playoffs.

    A set tier of punishment needs to be established:
    1. Define act
    2. 1st offense = 2 games, 2nd offense = 5 games, etc…
    3. If opposing player is injured, then suspension should equal the number of games that the injured player would miss due to the infraction.

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    Yeah, I don’t think he meant to hit him at such a dangerous spot of the head but he meant to throw that elbow.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Heals FTW haha.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    I think he wanted to hit whoever bumped into him and was holding him up. Which Harden was doing if you watch the replay and watch what he does.
    MWP did something incredibly stupid and dangerous. Not Gilbert Arenas level stupid and dangerous, but still pretty bad.
    I don’t know, elbows get thrown. Dwight throws elbow. Artest threw a bad elbow. It wasn’t any more vicious than Raja Bell clotheslining Kobe a few years back though. It was just more dangerous.
    So if you’re suspending him based on viciousness, he shouldn’t get that much, if it’s based on possible consequences, I can see a longer suspension. But that opens up a can of worms about if you should suspend everyone based on what could have happened.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    And people are doing ARtest a disservice by acting like he blacked out.
    He didn’t black out when he threw that elbow, he was sending a message to whoever was behind him. Period.
    He blacked out when he saw Ibaka coming at him and he started grabbing his package and squaring up. That was the crazy Artest.
    The Artest who threw the elbow was the calculating Artest, he just made a bad calculation.

  • bolarinwa

    First of all, let me say this if you watched the whole scene, you will know Artest did that stuff on purpose. Harden was going for the inbound pass and his right hand was clearly making contact with Artest. Now if you are artest your five senses must be working to know that somebody is close to you. How can beating your chest result into an elbow move. I think he should be banned to serve as scapegoat to others who would try and act in this manner. I like to see a player use his energy on D and offense. That’s why i like Howard, you won’t see him playing cheap dirty moves. he will block shots stop layups and dunks. That’s what we want to see. If i wanted to see a fight we have UFC and WWE shows to see all that. Again i hope Harden recovers from this and uses this as motivation for the playoffs. And for those of you thinking Artest and Ibaka, let me just say my dad is from Nigeria (west Africa) and that part of Africa the men love to fight. it’s no secret they got mad ass stamina and all, so Ibaka who comes from Congo will definitely whoop Artest ass. You think it’s the burgers that will get Artest through? hell no.

  • @boweezy24

    He Was Probably Trying to Push Out Of The Way With His Elbow/ Arm and Caught Harden In The Head.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Dwight Howard is notorious for throwing elbows. He’s even been suspended for doing it. Lol.

  • smoove

    “metta world peace elbow”….sounds like a wrestling move

  • bolarinwa

    naa. Dwight Howard uses his elbow to shield the ball in defense when you

  • shutup

    I’m disappointed in Allen, I didn’t expect to see you try to absolve MWP in any way. There is no way that elbow wasnt intentional, and the malice is clearly evident in his throwing it and not showing remorse. Coming from someone that frequents mosh pits in and out of work you know when you make contact with another person and you can feel the difference between someones head and arm. He stopped his celebration co(ked his arm back and swung it head level, and precedent has been set in hockey for criminal charges to be filed Luc Robetielle (last name not sure of spelling) he was charged with assault for hitting another player in the head with his stick. The difference with this and Dikembes or Barkley or Mutumbo’s elbows (and clearly I havent seen every elbow) but the majority were in the course of the game, this was not. I’m not advocating criminal charges but I think this should end Artest’s career, before he really hurts someone again. BTW its a b!tch move to release a half-@$$ apology that he did and I think stern is gonna come down harder because of it.

  • shutup

    I actually refered to Dikembe and Mutumbo as 2 different people, lol I meant Malone.

  • idrees

    why do we call him “world peace”?

← Older Comments
Newer Comments →
Advertisement