The Lakers' forward filed paperwork in Los Angeles County Superior Court to legally change his name to "Metta World Peace."
"It's true, he did," said Heidi Buech, who was Artest's longtime publicist until resigning earlier this week.
Artest has informed the Lakers of his plans but has not yet filed paperwork with the NBA to apply for a name change on the back of his jersey, Lakers spokesman John Black said.
“My understanding is ‘Metta’ will be his first name and ‘World Peace’ will be his last,” Black said.
For a long time, Artest carried the reputation as an instigator in the infamous "Palace Brawl" in 2004, but he seemed to complete a personality turnaround in recent years.
Last December, he raffled off his 2010 Lakers championship ring, raising about $600,000 for various mental-health entities. Two months ago, he received the NBA's citizenship award for the 2010-11 season, as detemined by pro basketball media members.
Continue reading on the Lakers Blog from the Los Angeles Times
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