With the shock of Dwight Howard's decision to sign with the Houston Rockets now seemingly an afterthought, Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace made some bold statements with his prediction of the Western Conference finals.

World Peace believes it will come down to two teams, the Rockets and the Lakers, and was so sure of it that he put it in writing to fans on his Twitter account.

World Peace was also had "no idea" of Howard's decision until being spotted by TMZ and was asked about it. He later explained that he doesn't take much interest in paying attention to basketball during the offseason, but would make plans to talk to Howard to figure out what went wrong.

Not many people expect the Lakers to contend next season as their roster isn't currently much of one that looks like to be a championship contender. Nevertheless, World Peace was never one to lack confidence, and he is fully prepared to take on the challenges that await at summers end.

There's been speculation that the Lakers would eventually amnesty World Peace this year to cut $30 million in luxury taxes under the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), according to the Los Angeles Times' Mike Bresnahan, that may no longer be in their plans:

"...the Lakers are leaning toward keeping Metta World Peace instead of waiving him under the one-time amnesty provision, according to a person familiar with the situation."

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