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TOKYO, JAPAN – JULY 25: JaVale McGee # 11 of United States in action during the USA V France basketball preliminary match at Saitama Super Arena at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics on July 25, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Tim Clayton / Corbis via Getty Images)
Star in your role. It’s one of the oldest snaps in the sport, one that new Phoenix Suns center JaVale McGee has used to turn his career upside down.
It doesn’t appear to be his main thought process, however.
McGee wanted to get past being known as the blunderer, the player who made Shaquille O’Neal’s “Shaqtin ‘A Fool” segment on TNT. Inside the NBA a tube.
McGee was quickly reaching the decade scorer of his NBA career in the late 2010s as an oft-injured 7-footer, rarely consistent, and ultra-athlete. He didn’t quite understand his place in the NBA.
A Golden State Warriors vying in the summer of 2016 shot him, and it paid off, McGee reinventing himself as a traditional return center who was a key part of two title teams.
“It’s been kind of a season of redemption,” McGee told The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears during that first round of the playoffs in 2017. “It was a great opportunity and a platform to show what I have and to help this team. “
This platform allowed McGee to start his career when it could have ended. He has built a reputation for being one of the best substitutes in the league, while also being a personality gem to have in the locker room.
He took him to Los Angeles two years later, winning his third championship with the Lakers in 2020.
Five years after going to Golden State, McGee lands with the Suns on a one-year contract worth $ 5 million, according to Yahoo! Chris Haynes of Sports.
Over the past decade, as shooting, passing, ball handling and defensive versatility have become more important in the middle, teams still need a player like McGee who protects the rim, blocks shots, bounces, places good screens and finishes everything inside.
McGee will provide a fluid alternative to Deandre Ayton, as everything McGee is about is what Ayton got so much better at while learning to master his small role last season.
McGee, 33, is one of the best defensive appearances in the league.
Let’s start with the rim protection. This is an area where McGee is an absolute elite. His FG% authorized within 6 feet of the basket, per year:
2019: 51.9%
2020: 50.4%
2021: 46.9%The league average is around 60%. So that’s very very good. pic.twitter.com/xztw2TpMu8
– Sam Cooper (@scooperhoops) August 3, 2021
While McGee isn’t the fastest laterally, especially at this age, his length is absurd and allows him to cover immense ground. That way he can play a bit higher of drop cover for ball screens and not be a relentless target for infractions.
This is reinforced by the hilarious pattern of the guards thinking they have an angle of fire on McGee once they get around the elbow with the big man on top of them. But McGee has a solid foundation, doesn’t engage too much, and feels like he’s letting the ball carrier guide him where he needs to go before reacting to the shot.
Check out this sequence of cutting out practice, reading the ball handler to deny the pass before crossing the lane to swallow a float.
It’s a demonstration of championship level defense and why this type of experience is important.
McGee is a solid offensive rebounder for a cross at 1.9 per night during his career averaging 17.1 minutes per game. Ahead of last season, McGee had four consecutive years of shooting 70% or more on the rim, according to Cleaning the Glass, and is expected to see that 66% mark on two teams last year back in a defined role.
Best of all, McGee will adapt perfectly to what the Suns do.
Now, I know you might not be quick to join me on this last point, as McGee is still struggling with that aforementioned perception.
When the Suns swept the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals, some scoffed when Haynes reported that McGee was one of the Nuggets to step into the locker room and say that was unacceptable with the way Phoenix was beating them.
But you can bet your lowest dollar Chris Paul wasn’t the type to laugh.
In place, according to Haynes, Paul noticed that McGee was working hard during the lost time in Game 2 with the outcome already set. He congratulated him after the buzzer for doing this.
McGee spoke to Spears in 2017 about his mentality and pace of working on the pitch.
“That’s all I know,” McGee said. “I don’t know what to do other than keep working hard and playing basketball. I had people around me who had worse feelings than me about what my future would be like. I am so optimistic. I don’t watch the stuff [negatively]. I was definitely on my side.
Yeah, he’s the Suns kind of guy.
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