Metta World Peace Knows More About Canadian Exchange Rates Than You

Just like NBA basketball star Metta World Peace, the Canadian dollar has its ups and downs. Ends up, World Peace knows that better than most.

The Los Angeles Laker has been making a big splash during his offseason trip to Vancouver, showing off his knowledge of the Great White North, which ranges from the country's weather patterns to the value of the Canadian dollar. During an interview with blogger Har Journalist he was asked if he thought there was any chance of an NBA team coming to Vancouver again after the Grizzlies back were moved to Memphis in 2001 (h/t Business Insider).

“I think so, I think the dollar is up,” World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest, told Har Journalist. “Before the dollar was down at about 60 cents and now it’s at about 90 something cents. Now is the perfect time for an NBA team to come back to Vancouver."

While obviously more than just a country's currency rates determine a professional sports team's success, it turns out World Peace wasn't so far off in his assessment. Har Journalist points out that at the time of the interview the “Canadian dollar was at 97.45 US.” As for the “about 60 cents,” we'll give World Peace the benefit of the doubt and assume he was referring to the late 1990s and early 2000s when the Canadian dollar was at its lowest and Vancouver was still home to the Grizzlies.

That kind of financial knowledge isn’t all that common among World Peace’s fellow basketball players, some of whom, including Allen Iverson and Antoine Walker, have had very public financial battles in recent years. Not that Metta World Peace has been known to be financially conservative all the time. In fact, approximately sixty percent of NBA athletes become financially insolvent within five years of quitting the league, according to MSNBC.

It's not just basketball either. Baseball legend Curt Schilling had to shutter his video game company 38 Studios due to bankruptcy.