EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Metta World Peace will play in the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday night, just 12 days after surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee that was supposed to sideline him six weeks.

"He won't start, but he'll play," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said after Lakers shootaround Tuesday morning. "You always worry about somebody coming back and not knowing what can occur. But we have to get him back. I'm sure he's ready to roll."

Teammates have come up with several nicknames for World Peace in light of his rather miraculous healing process.

Kobe Bryant called him Wolverine on Monday. Chris Duhon was calling him Superman on Tuesday.

Of course, that nickname has previously been applied to Lakers center Dwight Howard.

"I didn't come up with Superman, I won't get upset," Howard said. "I'm happy he's back. I'm happy he's getting healthy. It will be good to have him on the floor."

Forward Earl Clark said he had an inkling World Peace was on target to return much earlier than expected a few days ago.

"I come here to shoot every night. So one day, maybe two days ago, I'm leaving and I see Metta come in and I'm like, 'Are you about to get a workout in?' I don't know if I even should be seeing this," Clark said.

"I don't know if [Lakers trainer Gary Vitti] and them know. But he was in, he was fine. He wasn't limping or nothing. He was just going through his normal routine.

"Metta is just a strong person. I know he takes care of his body. He eats things that I can't pronounce or even look at."