Last week, we discussed the most overrated player in the NBA: Devin Booker. This time, we will be investigating one of the more underrated players, someone who has done a complete 180 degree turn on his career. Once only known for his endless bloopers, he has become one of the better players in the NBA and has a chance to be a serious contributor on a championship team. This man is of course, none other than JaVale McGee.
It’s important to understand that McGee was never that bad. Despite bouncing between teams and suffering injuries, he averaged 10 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2 blocks in his first 12 seasons. Furthermore, McGee was clearly uber-athletic. Even for NBA standards, 7-footers just shouldn’t be dunking like this.
Instead, it was the media that depicted McGee as a clueless player. Of course, with comically awful plays like this, it’s easy to see why.
McGee became the star of the show no NBA players ever wants to be on: Shaqtin a Fool. He even became the 2x recipient of its MVP award. Soon after that, his lowlights began to completely overshadow his highlights and McGee was only known for being in countless memes.
This reputation preceded him everywhere he went. However, before the 2016-17 season, he found himself on the Golden State Warriors, a team fresh off of back-to-back Finals appearances. It was here that JaVale’s career would finally make a turn for the better.
In McGee’s two years in Golden State, the Dubs won two more championships, with the latter featuring McGee as a key rotation player. In that series, he averaged 8 points and 1.3 blocks on 80% field goal shooting while playing 14 minutes a game. McGee impressed everyone in his stint as a Warrior and was able to shake off some of his reputation. When Coach Steve Kerr was asked about JaVale’s time in the Bay Area, he said, “I had a preconceived notion about JaVale before he got here that turned out to be totally false.”
Last season, JaVale joined forces with LeBron James, the nemesis of those Warrior teams, on the Los Angeles Lakers. As a regular starter, McGee had the best season of his career. Before being struck with pneumonia, McGee was enjoying career bests in points and blocks with 11.8 and 2.6 respectively. Now, with a legitimate chance at being a staple on a team that hoists the Larry O’Brien Trophy, JaVale McGee has the opportunity to silence all his haters and put some much-needed respect on his name.
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