The nice part of being a team alumnus is you don’t have to buy a new jersey.
Former Knicks forward Metta Sandiford-Artest — formerly known as Ron Artest and Metta World Peace — attended Wednesday’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden while wearing his own jersey.
Sandiford-Artest, a Queensbridge native who starred for St. John’s, spent the 2013-14 season with the Knicks after they famously passed over him to draft all-time bust Frederic Weis in 1999.
The Knicks selected Weis with the 15th pick, while Sandiford-Artest went on selection later to the Bulls.
Sandiford-Artest made his way to Madison Square Garden at the end of his career, and his production dipped while he adjusted to a bench role for the first time in his career.
He averaged just 4.8 points and 2.0 rebounds per game across 13.4 minutes spanning 29 games, including just one start.
That Knicks team went 37-45 and missed the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, and would begin a stretch of seven straight years without postseason play.
While his career included stops with six teams — he also played for the Pacers, Lakers, Kings, Bulls and Rockets — Sandiford-Artest has remained a Knicks fan.
He predicted this team would end its 53-year title drought.
Metta World Peace in a Knicks game in 2013. Getty Images“They’re going to win it,” Sandiford-Artest told The Post last month. “I think this is going to be the time. I knew I wanted to see it in my lifetime, and it feels like Jalen Brunson is the best player in the playoffs right now even though [San Antonio’s Victor] Wembanyama is really good.
“But right now, Jalen Brunson is the best player in the playoffs.”
He lamented that he did not have a true chance to be the one to lead the team to a title.
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“I wanted to be the one to bring the Knicks back and be a real core piece in my prime,” he said. “Being the Defensive Player of the Year in the Garden, I just felt like that would’ve been a helluva — if you would’ve come to the Garden with me on the other side in my prime, good luck to you.
“I’m always going to go back to me, personally. But for the Knicks to win the championship now, you can’t take it away from nobody. You can’t take it away from anybody from New York. You can’t take it away from the players. You can’t take it away from the coaches. You can’t take it away from the owners. You can’t take it away from the fans. We want to see that because we’re from New York.”
