Metta Sandiford-Artest explains why he had a second job during his rookie season: "I would go there just to chill out, I had nothing to do"

Ron Artest played 175 games for the Chicago Bulls over two and a half seasons. During his stint with them, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 2.0 steals. However, only a few know that during Artest's rookie season in Chicago, he worked a second job after team practices because he was bored and had nothing to do.

During his recent appearance on Podcast P , the man now known as Metta Sandiford-Artest explained why he got a second job while under contract with the Bulls.

"I was getting in a lot of trouble like I said I had my children. So I was like, 'I got too much time in my hand.' I needed to do something. So I made me go to Circuit City. I was going there all the time and the discounts. So, I would go to Circuit City just to chill out. I had nothing to do." said Sandiford-Artest.

Metta wanted DVD discounts

According to Sandiford-Artest, he always headed to Circuit City to check out the latest DVDs when practice was over. Back then, there were still no streaming TV services like we have today, so if you wanted to watch a movie, old or new, you had to get a DVD copy of it.

But because Metta realized he was spending so much on DVDs, he needed to do something. Since he didn't want to give up watching movies, he decided to take a job at Circuit City so he could get an employee's discount when purchasing them. However, word of the Bulls rookie taking a second job quickly spread like fire, and before he could enjoy his benefits, he was forced to quit the job.

"I was there for one-and-a-half days because once it came out in the news, Jerry Krause called me in the office. He was like, 'Why are you working at Circuit City?' I said, ' Well, I'm trying to get a discount on these DVDs, and you know, I'm bored, I have nothing else to do. ' He was like, 'No, you can't work in Circuit City.' And I was like, 'Alright, cool,'" he added.

Circuit City was right down the street

Then known as Ron Artest, Sandiford-Artest was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th overall pick of the 1999 NBA Draft after playing college ball at St. John's. Artest made the All-Rookie second team and showed a lot of promise on both sides of the floor.

However, as he said, he was bored after practice. Meanwhile, Circuit City was a consumer electronics retail company with branches across the United States. Its outlet in Chicago was right down the street from the Bulls' former practice facility, the Berto Center. When Ron went out of the gym, it was one of the first things he saw.

Metta's NBA career was bizarre due to many things. Of course, there was the infamous Malice in the Palace brawl, which he triggered. He also changed his name several times, from Metta World Peace to Panda's Friend and now Metta Sandiford-Artest. But perhaps taking a second job after earning $899,800.00 during his rookie season was the strangest of them all.

Related: "They can't do what we did in the 90s" - Metta Sandiford-Artest argues that players now are not soft