JaVale McGee is a walking injury. It’s harsh but it’s true. He’s only played 28 games in two seasons, that’s pretty bad.
But McGee has been out recently, he’s been focusing on getting healthy, which is good. So good that the Dallas Mavericks bit the bullet and signed him. Bad idea? That remains to be seen, but JaVale thinks that he has a good chance this upcoming season.
McGee now plans to lean on the expertise of Mavs head athletic trainer Casey Smith to get back on the court, vowing to showcase the athleticism that made him an attractive prospect for the Dallas front office in free agency.
“That was one of the major things about (signing with the Mavericks),” McGee confessed. “With how good the training staff is and all the training materials that they have and other teams don’t have, it’s definitely a good thing.
“I’m definitely getting back to that elite level. The injuries really slowed me down, so I’m definitely going to get 100 percent healthy and come out and give it my all.”
Now even if McGee gets healthy, he’ll still have to battle for the starting center spot, going against Zaza Pachulia, Samuel Dalambert and Salah Mejri. But if he regains that crazy athleticism, he’s on lock for that starting position.
“Well, I definitely feel like we’re different players, the centers that we have, so it’s definitely going to be good competition,” McGee explained. “But that’s what basketball is for, competition, so it’s definitely going to make us all better.”
That’s basically the polite way of saying “if I’m healthy imma destroy these boys”.
