Metta World Peace Changing His Name for Move to China: And His New Name Is...

Get the funny scoop on the sports star

By Brett Malec Aug 07, 2014 8:52 PMTags
Metta World Peace, ESPYSJason Merritt/Getty Images

Get ready to call Metta World Peace by another new name.

The 34-year-old basketball star, who was born Ron Artest but changed his name to Metta World Peace back in September 2011, will be going by a brand-new moniker when he makes his move to the Chinese Basketball Association as the new forward for the Sichuan Blue Whales.

So what's his name of choice? The Panda's Friend!

Chinese media originally reported Metta's new name as Panda Friend, but the sports star quickly corrected that mistake.

"Guys my chinese name is not ‘Panda Friend' , its ‘The Pandas Friend,'" he wrote on Twitter earlier today. Easy mistake, no?

Metta has already gotten support from fans regarding his name change. Chrissy Teigen even tweeted, "Panda Friend is the best thing that will happen to me today, @MettaWorldPeace. Probably all month."

The name change isn't a huge surprise. He tweeted just a few days ago, "New Chinese name coming soon. You guys are going to love it!!!!"