EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace faced the media on Wednesday for the first time since the NBA announced he would be suspended seven games for striking the Oklahoma City's James Harden in the head with his elbow.

"It was bad timing for me and then, physically, it was bad timing for Mr. Harden," World Peace said after practice was over. "Who can write up a left-hand dunk and then all of the sudden somebody is right behind you? It's hard to draw that up and to plan something like that. It was just the worst timing for me."

World Peace echoed his previous statements expressing apologies to Harden and the Thunder organization, but has not reached out to Harden personally since the elbow incident on Sunday that left Harden with a concussion.

"Through a third party, I got wind that he was OK," World Peace said. "We're probably going to see each other in the playoffs, potentially, so I really didn't want to do any direct calls. Stay competitive. But, through a friend, he said he was doing OK."

He added he has a pre-existing relationship with the L.A.-native Harden from playing pick-up basketball with him during the summer.

World Peace expressed surprise over the severity of his punishment in a new installment of his podcast, "Mettaphorically Speaking: The Ron & Metta Show," released on Wednesday, but avoided commenting on his suspension with reporters after practice.

"If I start talking about that, I'm going to open myself up for excuses and I'm not one to give excuses," World Peace said. "So, it's hard for me to speak about the (amount of) games (I was suspended)."