It was the world according to Metta World Peace yesterday as he philosophized the Knicks haven’t played smart enough to win a championship the past 40 years.
World Peace said this current edition may have the intelligence to finally break the Knicks’ title drought that began after they won the 1973 championship with a club considered arguably the smartest in NBA history.
World Peace even compared coach Mike Woodson to Phil Jackson, who was on both Knicks title teams in 1970 and 1973 and now is the most decorated coach of all time with 11 championships.
The Queensbridge product won his lone title with the Zen Master in Los Angeles in 2009. He claims the NBA has taught him talent and toughness are overrated.
“It’s as important being physical as being smart,’’ the former Ron Artest said. “I know a lot of smart teams who have won championships. Obviously the smart thing is sometimes be physical. But I’m not big on just being physical.’’
The rugged teams of the Patrick Ewing/Charles Oakley/Pat Riley/Jeff Van Gundy era never won it all, Metta noted.
“I know New York fans love the old physical teams, New York is a physical place,’’ said World Peace, who is regarded as one of the most physical players in the game. “But New York doesn’t have a championship in the last how many years? 1973. It’s about time we become intelligent. It’s about time we changed that.’’
The oft-suspended former St. John’s star appears tired of being known as only a wild-eyed enforcer. He thinks he will add more than just that in his first season in New York since playing for St. John’s in 1998-99.
“All that old physical stuff that all these fans are talking about: I’m from New York, it’s not winning championships,’’ World Peace said. “You have to bring some type of intelligence and you have to be together. That’s the only thing that’s important. I don’t care about being just a physical team.’’
Do the Knicks have the intelligence to win a title? Last season, they led the league in fewest turnovers at 12.0 per game — one good sign.
“Yes [we do],’’ World Peace said. “Tyson [Chandler] is a champion. He’s physical and smart won a championship in Dallas. Beno [Udrih] has two championship rings with [Gregg] Popovic [in San Antonio]. Woodson [as an assistant in Detroit], has one. Kenyon [Martin] has been there [to the Finals] twice. [Carmelo Anthony] has a killer instinct to win that championship.
“You need a player like Melo, someone you can’t really see what’s in his heart. You can see his stats. But you can’t really measure how big his heart is. It has no limit so obviously he has championship abilities. And the list goes on.’’
The list didn’t include J.R. Smith, whose one-game suspension for ridiculously elbowing Jason Terry in garbage time of Game 4 versus Boston in the first round of last season’s playoffs led to a domino effect that cost the Knicks a big postseason run.
Meanwhile, World Peace is very impressed with Woodson, giving him the ultimate compliment.
“He reminds me of Phil Jackson a little bit,” World Peace said. “With the exception Phil ran the triangle. As far as holding each other accountable, figuring it out on the floor. Woody will put in the system, the sets on defense and offense, and he expects us to play together, play smart. From that sense, he reminds me a lot of Phil.”