Thunder archenemy Metta World Peace is a fan of Thunder coach Scott Brooks. So much so, said the player formerly known as Ron Artest, that he politicked for Brooks to take over the Sacramento Kings in 2007.

World Peace played for, and Brooks was an assistant coach for, the 2006-07 Kings. And World Peace said Brooks was a factor in the Thunder's Game 1 rout of the Lakers on Monday night in the Western Conference semifinals.

“I played for Scotty Brooks,” World Peace said. “A lot of people don't understand, when you play against a team, you're also playing against a coach.

“When Scotty Brooks was in Sacramento and the coach (Eric Musselman) got fired, I asked the general manager to hire Scotty Brooks as the head coach, because I knew what type of coach he was.”