Metta World Peace won the Defensive Player of the Year award during the 2003-04 campaign.
The Indiana Pacers have only had one player win the Defensive Player of the Year award in their franchise history. Let’s discuss the accomplishments of Metta World Peace that helped him be named Defensive Player of the Year in 2004.
Metta World Peace – 2004
World Peace was selected by the Bulls with the 16th pick in the 1999 Draft. At that time, his name was Ron Artest. In his rookie season, he averaged 1.7 steals while playing 31 minutes per game. He then averaged 2.0 steals in 31 minutes per game the following season. He had a short stint with the Bulls as he was traded to the Pacers in February 2002. In the 2001-02 season, World Peace combined to average 2.6 steals per game with the Bulls and Pacers.
In his first full season with the Pacers in 2002-03, World Peace made All-Defensive Second Team and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He averaged 2.3 steals per game to go along with averages of 15.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
World Peace made his lone career All-Star team in 2003-04, averaging 18.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.1 steals and 0.7 blocks per game for the season. That helped him be named All-Defensive First Team and win his lone career Defensive Player of the Year award.
World Peace made the All-Defensive First Team again in 2005-06, finishing fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting that season. However, he never finished higher than fourth for the award after winning it in 2004. In January 2006, World Peace was traded from the Pacers to the Kings. Following his time with the Kings, World Peace played for the Rockets, Knicks and had two separate stints with the Lakers. During his career, he had seven different seasons in which he averaged at least 2.0 steals per game. In 2008-09, he made All-Defensive Second Team while playing for the Rockets. He won his lone career championship with the Lakers in 2010.
In 193 career regular season games with the Pacers, World Peace averaged 16.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game. He made three trips to the playoffs with the franchise, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2004. They lost that series to the Pistons in six games. Across 26 playoff games with the Pacers, World Peace averaged 17.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.0 blocks.
