After cutting ties with Dallas, the three-time NBA champion JaVale McGee settled down in Sacramento. In the city where he lived more than twenty years ago, when he followed in the footsteps of his basketball mother, Pamela, who then played for the Sacramento Monarchs in the WNBA.
This new challenge to the Kings thus resembles an opportunity to come full circle, for the 35-year-old pivot who arrives in a competitive team, on the upward slope, within which he will have the opportunity to bring his experience.
De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes already seduced
“It’s just crazy. My mother competed in the Olympics and won a gold medal. I also won one. She played for the Sparks. I played for the Lakers. And now I play for the Kings and she played for the Monarchs. The circle is complete “, he recognized. “It’s like I’m following in his footsteps and it’s a beautiful thing.” I’m honored that she was my mother and showed me the way, and now I’m back and it feels familiar. I was in fifth grade when she played here, so I was in school. I had friends at school. I lived here. It’s come full circle, like I said, and it’s a beautiful thing.”
Already acclimated to the city, JaVale McGee also adapted quickly to the context of the Kings. From the first training sessions, his new teammates were able to see that the veteran still had something under his belt.
“He’s a big guy”admitted De’Aaron Fox, “He stands close to the rim and he has such ability to counter. Even if you don’t think he’s going to block you, there are times when he reaches for the ball and you wonder how he could have done that. He deflected a ball today in training, on an action that was crazy, on a second jump. He jumped the first time, I think it was against Sasha (Vezenkov). Then Sasha tried to take it over him, and he got it. It was crazy. It was goaltending, but it was crazy. His presence is felt physically and verbally.”
For Harrison Barnes also, the arrival of JaVale McGee can only bring more to Mike Brown’s group, particularly defensively.
“JaVale knows how to make his presence felt defensively, offensively, playing above the circle. Defensively, it’s obvious he can cover a lot of ground. He’s been in this league for a long time. He knows how to talk, communicate with the guys, be the anchor for us, so he’s been really good.”
A relationship of trust with Mike Brown
To facilitate his integration, the pivot knows that he will also be able to count on Mike Brown, with whom he won two NBA titles in 2017 and 2018, when Coach Of The Year 2023 was assistant to Steve Kerr at Golden State.
“I’m just comfortable with him,” added JaVale McGee. “Knowing that you’re going to be able to call your coach and have a serious conversation, knowing that he’s not going to cheat on you and that he’s going to tell you what’s really going on. I always had that with Mike Brown, and that’s what got me here.”
| JaVale McGee | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2008-09 | W.A.S. | 75 | 15 | 49.4 | 0.0 | 66.0 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 3.9 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 6.5 |
| 2009-10 | W.A.S. | 60 | 16 | 50.8 | 0.0 | 63.8 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 4.1 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 6.4 |
| 2010-11 | W.A.S. | 79 | 28 | 55.0 | 0.0 | 58.3 | 2.8 | 5.2 | 8.0 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 10.1 |
| 2011-12 * | All Teams | 61 | 25 | 55.6 | 0.0 | 46.1 | 2.7 | 5.2 | 7.8 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 11.3 |
| 2011-12 * | W.A.S. | 41 | 27 | 53.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 3.1 | 5.7 | 8.8 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 11.9 |
| 2011-12 * | DEN | 20 | 21 | 61.2 | 0.0 | 37.3 | 1.8 | 4.0 | 5.8 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 10.3 |
| 2012-13 | DEN | 79 | 18 | 57.5 | 100.0 | 59.1 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 4.8 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 9.1 |
| 2013-14 | DEN | 5 | 16 | 44.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 7.0 |
| 2014-15 * | All Teams | 23 | 11 | 53.2 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 4.6 |
| 2014-15 * | DEN | 17 | 11 | 55.7 | 0.0 | 69.0 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 5.2 |
| 2014-15 * | PHL | 6 | 10 | 44.4 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 3.0 |
| 2015-16 | DAL | 34 | 11 | 57.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 3.9 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 5.1 |
| 2016-17 | GOS | 77 | 10 | 65.2 | 0.0 | 50.5 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 6.1 |
| 2017-18 | GOS | 65 | 10 | 62.1 | 0.0 | 73.1 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 4.8 |
| 2018-19 | LAL | 75 | 22 | 62.4 | 8.3 | 63.2 | 2.6 | 5.0 | 7.6 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 12.0 |
| 2019-20 | LAL | 68 | 17 | 63.7 | 50.0 | 64.6 | 1.8 | 3.9 | 5.7 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 6.6 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 46 | 15 | 51.1 | 20.8 | 65.7 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 5.2 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 7.3 |
| 2020-21 * | KEY | 33 | 15 | 52.1 | 25.0 | 65.5 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 5.2 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 8.0 |
| 2020-21 * | DEN | 13 | 14 | 47.8 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 1.8 | 3.5 | 5.3 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 5.5 |
| 2021-22 | PHX | 74 | 16 | 62.9 | 22.2 | 69.9 | 2.2 | 4.5 | 6.7 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 9.2 |
| 2022-23 | DAL | 42 | 8 | 64.0 | 40.0 | 58.5 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 4.4 |
| Total | 863 | 17 | 57.8 | 19.7 | 60.4 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 5.2 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 7.8 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
