Metta World Peace says he requested trade during 2009-10 season

Despite having a relatively short tenure with the Lakers, Metta World Peace cemented himself in the franchise's history in his first season. As part of a team that didn’t just go back-to-back, didn’t just beat the Celtics in the Finals but won a Game 7 against their rivals, MWP was at the forefront of that decisive win.

However, in a recent podcast appearance, he revealed the Game 7 heroics nearly never happened. Sitting down with teammate on that Lakers team and childhood friend Lamar Odom for his podcast “The Lade Show,” MWP discussed his first year in purple and gold and how he requested a trade early on.

“The easy thing was Lamar was there. I asked for a trade. I remember I asked for a trade early in the season because I just couldn’t mentally deal with it. But then I spoke to Dr. Buss. He’s an incredible human. RIP Dr. Buss. He was like ‘You came here to win’ and I’m like ‘That’s true.’ I wanted to just master my position. It took me a while to get used to that. I wanted to do the best I can in my role. I remember in the Finals, I was ready. One game, I only got two shots. I remember being in Boston, I got two shots. It was cool. At that point, I was finally ok with it. But it took me a long time.”

In hindsight, it’s not all that surprising a revelation only from the standpoint that it never felt a seamless fit with MWP into that Lakers team. Eventually, they would get things figured out, as evidenced by the title, but it certainly wasn’t smooth sailing.

It’s interesting to look back at the game logs with this insight as well. Early in the season, MWP’s shot attempts and points were up, but it seems like that may have been him trying to force the issue rather than accepting his role.

As he mentioned, that culminated in the Finals. It wasn’t quite the two shots he mentioned as, in Game 3 in Boston, he attempted four shots with two of those being 3-pointers, which might be what he was referencing.

The Lakers, though, won that game and Paul Pierce was held to 5-12 shooting at least partially because of MWP. And it was his combination of excelling in his role that culminated in his Game 7 performance.

It’s certainly a fascinating look back at a much more successful time in Los Angeles and a potential sliding doors moment.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.