Metta World Peace hid in his house for days after breaking Michael Jordan's ribs

In an interview with The Athletic, former NBA star Ron Artest (now known as Metta World Peace) looked back on his controversial career and spoke about a myriad of topics, including joining the Bulls after Michael Jordan left and how the league's attitude towards mental illness has shifted in recent years. Among the most interesting parts of the interview was hearing World Peace's perspective on the time he broke Jordan's ribs in 2001.

World Peace broke Jordan's ribs during the summer of 2001 when he came to Jordan's private gym to scrimmage. For a while, it was reported that World Peace may have hurt Jordan on purpose but according to him, he was terrified when he realized he hurt the living legend.

“I remember (thinking) like, ‘I think I hurt Michael Jordan,’ so I went home and I didn’t leave my house for like two days," World Peace told The Athletic.

When the news of the incident first broke, there was a report that it happened during a fight between World Peace and Jordan. World Peace was nervous about how he would be perceived, but he was able to leave the house and return to playing when he received a call from Jordan.

"And then Jordan calls me, and Jordan was like, ‘Hey man, it’s ok. Things happen, and don’t worry about it.’ And then I went back to playing. It was one of the greatest phone calls I got in my life. I spoke to Jordan twice on the phone in my life.”

The other time Jordan called World Peace was following the Malice at the Palace, which earned him a nearly season-long suspension.

“He was like, ‘Hang in there,’" World Peace recalled. "(It was) amazing. … If he can help, he’ll help, and just calling — that’s a big help if you’re hearing from Michael Jordan. But at that time, I just wasn’t able to take leadership well. I wasn’t listening to any leaders. … There was nothing you could say to get through to me.”

It sounds like Metta World Peace was able to receive the information the Goat was trying to convey.