Metta’s Fil-Am son visits Manila
NBA star Metta World Peace’s son Jeron Artest and his Filipina mother Jennifer Uy Palma are in town on a one-week trip from Los Angeles to check out life in Manila, visit family and explore the possibility of enrolling the 14-year-old budding basketball player in a local school.
Artest is a 5- 7 combo guard and incoming sophomore at Palisades Charter High School in Los Angeles. He is expected to grow to 6-4. Artest is one of Metta’s four children – the others are Sadie, 18, Ron III and Diamond, 11, whose mother Kimsha Hatfield was married to the former NBA star for six years up to 2009. Metta, formerly known as Ron Artest until a legal change of name in 2001, played for six teams in a 15-year NBA career that ended with the New York Knicks last season. Metta was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2004 and saw action on the Los Angeles Lakers team that won the NBA title in 2010. The 6-7 forward from La Salle Academy High School and St. John’s University is now playing for Pallacanestro Cantu in the Italian league.
An honor student, Artest was only 10 months old when he started to dribble a toy ball and his first spoken word was “ball.” He began to play organized basketball with the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) team Gauchos of the Bronx, New York, as an 8-yearold under coaches Wee Francis, Tommy Swinton and Dwayne Mitchell. Artest took the Gauchos to the AAU semifinals in the under-8 division. NBA players with Gaucho roots include Stephon Marbury, Kemba Walker, Ed Pinckney and Jamal Mashburn. Since the Gauchos, Artest has moved on to play for other AAU squads United Sports Training, ARC Hoop.com and lately, Pump and Run. Metta himself has a strong AAU background and played with future NBA stars Elton Brand and Lamar Odom in the boys league.
“Jeron was born to play basketball,” said his mother who lived five minutes away from Metta in Queens, New York, when they were St. John’s schoolmates. “At four, he would go over to play at Chelsea Piers. Now, he even plays pick-up ball with UCLA college players and practices with his older brother who’s 6-6. He’s very close to his dad who encourages him to play. His dad looks after his conditioning. Ron (Metta) often reminds him to take care of his body, not to wear out his tendons, to get lots of rest after playing. Jeron and I live about five minutes from where Ron lives in Los Angeles. Ron and I co-parent well. Jeron hangs around with his brother and sisters a lot. Sometimes, I go over to Ron’s house to cook for the kids.”
Palma, born in Chicago to Filipino parents with Ilocano and Mindoro roots, said she plans to apply for dual citizenship for her son. “It’s Jeron’s first visit to the Philippines,” she said. “He’s enjoying every minute of his stay. We have family in Manila. My brother James, a music producer and DJ, has moved from the US to Manila. Ron is aware of our visit and hopes to come over when his schedule allows. We’re open to the possibility of Jeron studying and playing in Manila. Jeron keeps asking how much a house costs in BF Homes and Alabang Hills so that’s a positive sign.”
Artest, who has video highlights of his games on YouTube, said his strong points are shooting and ballhandling. “I like to shoot deep threes from the NBA arc,” he said. “I also like to do creative passing. I don’t really have a favorite player or team but I like the classic guards like Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and John Stockton. I don’t’ watch too much basketball on TV, I just love to play. Basketball is in my genes. I was with my dad when the Lakers won the championship. I’ll always remember my dad taking me to an Indy car race and to a vacation in Hawaii. I hope my dad takes me to Las Vegas to watch Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Floyd Mayweather. My dad and Manny are good friends.”
Artest said he was surprised to find out a namesake is a college basketball star in the Philippines. “When I google Jeron, the name Jeron Teng keeps coming out,” he said. “I’ve seen his games on YouTube. I also know about another Filipino player Kobe Paras who’s in Los Angeles.” Last Saturday, Artest met Teng at a dinner party hosted by San Miguel Corp. chairman and La Salle alumnus Eduardo (Danding) Cojuangco, Jr. in North Forbes Park.
Artest’s mother said she’s proud of how her only child has turned out. “Jeron is an exceptional boy,” she said. “He plays the piano, sings with the honor choir and is a competitive golfer. He excels in school. We’ve always brought him to good schools like St. Sebastian’s in New York, Palma del Mar in Puerto Rico where we lived for a year, Resurrection Ascension School in New York, Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica, Poly Prep, Loyola of Los Angeles and now Palisades. He has a high IQ and is quite advanced for his age.”
Yesterday, Artest participated in the Urban Guerilla Race at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City. It was a benefit race organized by Wright On Track, an event promotions outfit where his aunt Nikka Ramos works. This afternoon, Artest will attend the La Salle seniors practice on Taft Avenue. He and his mother leave for Los Angeles tomorrow.
“Right now, Jeron plans to finish high school in Los Angeles but who knows?” said his mother. “I want him to get a Philippine passport so he becomes a dual citizen. If there’s an opportunity for Jeron to study and play in Manila, we’ll look into it. His dream is to take up computer science and finance in college. His father was a math major at St. John’s while I took up business and finance. I’ve always liked Wall Street and technology. At the moment, I run my own on-line store called Jenisis. I design swimwear and bags and my products include cosmetics, headwear, jewelry and other accessories. I’m a certified make-up artist, too. I plan to expand my business to the Philippines and that may mean making regular trips over.”