J. Michael | IndyStar

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MATT KRYGER, INDIANAPOLIS STAR

CHICAGO — For the first time in 14 years, former Pacers teammates Metta World Peace and Jermaine O'Neal are talking.

In May 2016, World Peace — then known as Ron Artest — admitted on ESPN that he was jealous of O'Neal and had never bonded with the budding star center who was drafted out of Eau Claire High School in Columbia, S.C., in 1996 by the Portland Trail Blazers. The Pacers traded for O'Neal in 2000, then traded for World Peace during the 2001-02 season. O’Neal had a bigger name, and a bigger contract.

At least a week before the duo played on June 29 in the Big 3 game in Chicago (a 3-on-3 league for former NBA players), World Peace and O'Neal had lunch in Oakland to repair their relationship.

"It was the first time we sat down," O'Neal says of his Pacers teammate from 2001-06.

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And yes, those 14 years of silence started while they were still teammates. Before tipoff that night in Chicago, Artest found O'Neal in the training room to deliver a message that still resonates with him.

“He just told me, ‘Man, the year we won 61 games you should’ve won MVP,’” says O’Neal, who finished third behind winner Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan in 2004. “He’s never said that to me. We have a really good relationship now. Maturity is everything.”

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The drought coincided with the “Malice at the Palace” in which Artest was hit with an 86-game suspension by the league for going into the stands to fight fans. A federal judge sided with O’Neal to reduce his suspension from its original 25 games to 15 because he did not enter the stands and was trying to protect a teammate during the melee.

O'Neal and World Peace had established themselves as the young core of a championship-caliber team, but it crumbled after the fight in Detroit.

O’Neal, sorting through his feelings towards the player formerly known as Artest, pauses repeatedly, for long stretches.

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“I don’t know if I was salty (over the brawl). We just didn’t have the best relationship in Indy,” he says.