Overview
- The council held a City Hall ceremony recognizing the former Laker and adopted a resolution naming May 15 “Metta World Peace Day” across Los Angeles.
- Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez introduced the measure and said the goal is to normalize mental health conversations citywide.
- Metta World Peace urged people to seek help, saying it is OK to go to therapy and to take care of yourself.
- His advocacy followed his 2010 title run with the Lakers, when he thanked his psychiatrist and later legally changed his name in 2011.
- Earlier in his career, then known as Ron Artest, he served an 86-game suspension for the 2004 “Malice at the Palace” brawl, a low point that shaped his public journey.