Metta World Peace Issues Apology for Elbowing James Harden in the Neck

Via the AP:

''I got real emotional and excited, and it was unfortunate that James had to get hit with the unintentional elbow,'' said World Peace, who had scored 12 points and played solid defense on Durant. ''I hope he's OK. Oklahoma, they're playing for a championship this year. I apologize to the Thunder and James Harden. It was just unfortunate.''

Sincere? Probably. Metta World Peace strikes me as a guy who's pretty cool off of the court, but can lose his cool in the heat of the moment. But, I try not to have too much of an opinion on these types of things, as pretty much everyone is entrenched in what they think. You either love Metta or you hate Metta, and whatever I say is just going to confirm what you think or incite some form of rage.

Regardless, we're all sitting here waiting to find out what kind of punishment will be doled out to World Peace, and how long it will take for James Harden to recover from "concussion-like symptoms". It's impossible to know what will happen with Harden, but World Peace will most likely get a suspension lasting less than 10 games, considering Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith were suspended for 15 and 10 games, respectively, for their role in the 2006 Knicks-Nuggets brawl. Their transgressions were much more blatant, and were also related to players only, while the Pacers-Pistons brawl involved fans and heavier suspensions. Then again, Kermit Washington was suspended for 60 days for severely injuring Rudy Tomjanovich with a punch in 1977, but the incident occurred in an entirely different era, and Tomjanovich was blatantly attacked and severely injured.