2022-10-11 07:00:00
Once considered a slightly stupid player who is probably not the penguin who slips the farthest by some NBA observers, JaVale McGee has managed to get rid of this unglamorous image to appropriate a much more flattering one: that of the guy who performs excellent service on winning teams.
Very clever who might have predicted such a glow-up for the friend JaVale, because the animal offered us countless crazy things, especially when he was playing under the Wizards jersey, so much so that a compilation of his “exploits” exists. He was once Shaquille O’Neal’s favorite victim, regularly claiming the top spots in Shaqtin’ A Fool. Whether it’s when he gets meaty during a dunk attempt from the free throw line, when he’s struggling to post Isaiah Thomas, when he pushes like a slug to get the first triple-double of his career or when he goes back to defense following a missed shot while… John Wall his teammate has the ball, it was great Mendes. His physical and athletic qualities allow him to survive in the big league, unfortunately, his looks of a big booby with a hazardous technique and a disjointed body have hardly helped the former Wizards in his quest for a new image. In his defense, he evolved at the time with many social cases like Andray Blatche, Nick Young, Jordan Crawford, Deshawn Stevenson or the inseparable Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton. In short, at this time, it was really the Age of Enlightenment in Washington, and he seemed destined to make a career of the tragicomic genre. But JaVale McGee is going to get a chance for a fresh start when all these happy minstrels find their way apart.
On March 15, 2012, he was sent to the Nuggets, then in contention for the Playoffs in the West. If his playing time and his role are less important, the pivot finally evolves in a well-framed and ambitious franchise. He discovers the joys of the postseason in Denver and the front office trusts him to the point of offering him a contract of 44 million over 4 years. Unfortunately, a stress fracture in the left tibia has put the lead in the wing to a career that finally seemed to take off. The Nuggets do not extend him at the end of his contract, the Sixers decide to cut him following six games and the Mavericks did not want to keep him in 2016 either. fir tree for the former favorite troublemaker of the NBA However, at the same time, an unexpected windfall presents itself to the son of Pam McGee, former WNBA player. The Warriors, defending champions, immediately offer a contract to the pivot, aware that the latter will not be greedy in salary or playing time and has an athletic player profile that fits well with Steve Kerr’s playing philosophy. Neither one nor two, he accepts GS’s proposal for minimum wage and recovers his health in California. If he only starts 27 games out of the 142 played in the Bay, he brings a very nice stone to the Warriors building and fully deserves his first two career titles, gleaned in 2017 and 2018. Throughout his time at Golden State, he’s supported by his peers, adored in his locker room, and respected for his hard work and calm temperament. Andre Iguodala will even hold these words which make perfect sense today in the career of JaVale McGee.
You can be smart and act stupid, but you can’t be stupid and act smart. – Andre Iguodala
Indeed, JaVale McGee is no longer this freak who amuses everyone with his antics and who is very awkward on 50% of his actions, but a pivot who has come a long way, hardworking, discreet, generous in the effort and now double NBA Champion with the Dubs. Eager to take on a new challenge, he went a little further south and joined the Lakers in 2018, the same year as LeBron James. He becomes the Angelinos’ starting pivot between 2018 and 2020, and if he misses the Playoffs in his first season in Los Angeles, McGee pockets his third ring in 2020, in the Orlando bubble, along with other geniuses like Dion Waiters, Kyle Kuzma, Dwight Howard or even the unbeatable Gérard. Three titles in four years, it’s official: McGee is now a lucky charm to the joy of the team that hires him. Unfortunately for them, the Lakers then deprive themselves of any title chance in 2021 and finally send McGee to Cleveland following their coronation, to make room for Marc Gasol, then they in turn send him back to Denver. The 2021 season of NBA’s most famous rat tail is not a long calm river, but fortunately there is… Team USA! Since like her mother Pam, JaVale McGee wins the Olympic title once morest the French team during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and adds a line to her now very extensive list. Hell we tell you.
It is in Phoenix, with the Suns, that Shaq’s friend will sign a new contract for 2021-22 and try to give a new boost to his NBA career. If he is impeccable individually speaking, he unfortunately cannot avoid the elimination of the outgoing finalist by the Mavericks, whom he joined this summer. In Dallas, we obviously hope for a more fruitful experience than the first, only 34 games long, but above all a real contribution to being able to help Luka Doncic and his family to reach a new level, following a contract of $20 million over 3 years was offered to the future titular pivot of the franchise. It seems a long time ago when Mamène was a simple athletic pivot who seemed devoid of basketball IQ and seemed to wander on the floor like a headless chicken. Now, JaVale is a player better to have with than once morest.
Today spared by physical glitches, and fully focused on his role in a team, JaVale McGee makes the heyday of each franchise in which he passes. The Mavs’ new lucky charm may be 2m13 tall. To talk regarding an NBA title with the Texas franchise, it’s still very early, but it’s all the harm we wish Mamène, who well deserved this laudatory stammer in his regard.
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