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          Los Angeles Lakers

          Metta World Peace: 'Kobe, take the money'

          • Arash Markazi, ESPN Senior WriterNov 28, 2013, 12:29 AM ET
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            • Former columnist and writer after five years with Sports Illustrated
            • Markazi has also written for Slam, King, Vibe and Playboy
            • On board of directors for Jim Murray Memorial Foundation.
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          LOS ANGELES -- Metta World Peace is happy Kobe Bryant signed a two-year $48.5 million extension with the Los Angeles Lakers but thinks he could have gotten him more if he were his agent and negotiating with Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak.

          “He should have taken the money,” World Peace said Wednesday. “God damn, Kobe, take the money. Take it and run. He should have let me negotiate for him. I would have said, ‘Hey, Mitch, c’mon, make it happen. Make it happen.’ The standard cut is 4 percent, but I would have taken 10.”

          World Peace returned to Los Angeles on Wednesday night with the New York Knicks to play the Clippers in his first game back at the Staples Center since the Lakers amnestied him in the offseason. He has played with six teams during his 15-year career, but said he was happy Bryant will only play with the Lakers during his 20-year career.

          “It’s a lot of money,” World Peace said. “I think it’s smart. I think it’s good. He could have gotten whatever he wanted. Whatever he would have asked for, he would have probably gotten. It’s good because it leaves them money to bring in another player, so it was very smart of them.”

          The question is what player will want to come to Los Angeles and play with Bryant at the end of Bryant’s career?

          “He’s a five-time champion, is hungry, has a killer instinct,” World Peace said. “Everybody has flaws. We all know this. Even the greatest person, except Gandhi; I don’t think Gandhi had flaws. Did Gandhi have flaws? What about the Dali Lama? They had no flaws. So there are a few people with no flaws.”

          World Peace thinks at least one other superstar will take “the risk” and play with Bryant in Los Angeles and make a push for a championship.

          “Kobe has a few flaws, but he has some good things about him also,” World Peace said. “He has a killer instinct and sometimes he channels it in a way that’s not relatable. But at the same time he has this drive that he wants to win. So I can see somebody taking the risk and coming here. I don’t know who. I’m very intense, but Kobe ... he channels his better than me.”