While things have changed in recent years, JaVale McGee lived through a time when he was practically considered a meme, and Shaquille O’Neal was partly responsible. The former pivot presents the section Shaqtin’ A Fool on the TNT, in which he reviews comic or absurd situations that occurred on the NBA courts, a section in which the now Suns pivot was the protagonist on many occasions due to the numerous plays of this nature in which he was involved. In an interview Shannon Sharpe, host of Club Shay Shay, McGee has spoken about it, influencing how that influenced his trajectory.
“The problem with that stage of Shaqtin ‘A Fool is that I did not realize how it was affecting my career until I had to move to other teams,” he said. “When I spoke to the coaches they told me that they had a very different mental image of me from seeing me on the show and that they did not expect me to be an intelligent and communicative person.”
“It was slowly wearing down my reputation. I was a young, athletic and excited player, but this was staining my reputation. The coaches no longer wanted to count on me ”.
McGee is not misguided in what he says, as it is true that the consideration that was had of him for many years was greatly marked by his continued appearances on the program. In fairness, however, it is also true that the number of comedic moments he starred in on the court was far greater than that of any other player, so the show simply took advantage of that facet.
Still, McGee seems to have managed to turn this around, and in recent years has changed the image of him considerably. His stages in the Warriors and Lakers have helped him, giving greater visibility to his virtues and ending that phase in which many people seemed to be waiting for him to make the next mistake.
(Cover photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
