Athletic center McGee claims last roster spot
JaVale McGee appears to have turned his non-guaranteed training camp invitation into the final spot on the Warriors’ roster.
The Warriors were off Thursday but announced their final cuts of the preseason, waiving Phil Pressey, Cameron Jones and Elliot Williams. That meant McGee, the popular, athletic and occasionally goofy reserve center, apparently has captured the final spot on the Warriors regular season roster.
After two straight seasons of both injuries and ineffectiveness with Dallas and Philadelphia, McGee needed to impress in the preseason. He has.
On the first day of camp, Kevin Durant told reporters of an impressive chasedown swat from McGee. Then in the Warriors first preseason game
— in only 16 minutes against the Raptors — McGee blocked three shots.
Golden State has a glut of center options on the roster — Zaza Pachulia, David West, Anderson Varejao, James Michael McAdoo, Kevon Looney, Damian Jones — but none have the leaping ability and shotblocking prowess of McGee.
As the preseason unfolded, McGee continued to look more and more comfortable offensively. In this most recent two-game miniseries against the Lakers in Las Vegas and San Diego, McGee went for a combined 20 points in 21 minutes. He had three highlights dunks, a nice hook shot and a fluid reverse layup.
All the Warriors core players continually praised McGee throughout October, signaling he’d won over the locker room. Of late, it sounded as if he’d won over the coaching staff. Ron Adams called himself one of McGee’s biggest cheerleaders. Steve Kerr mentioned this past week that McGee had a “good chance” to make the roster.
“It would mean everything to me,” McGee said.
On Thursday, it seems, he got the news.
The jam-packed NBA schedule can often make coordinating a family outing impossible. But sometimes, when things line up perfectly, the league’s lifestyle and connections allow unique opportunities, as they did this past week for Kerr’s family.
The Warriors spent four days in San Diego, where Kerr has an offseason home. They had a Tuesday morning practice. Later that night, right up the road, the Dodgers and Cubs played Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger stadium.
Kerr grew up in Los Angeles a huge Dodger fan. His father used to take him to games. But Kerr’s son, Nick, grew up in Chicago while Steve Kerr played for the Bulls. So father and son used to go out to Wrigley Field regularly in the summer. Nick became hooked.
“I remember his first game, he was 3 and Sammy Sosa hit a walk-off 3-run homer that broke a window on Waveland Avenue,” Kerr said. “They may as well have injected him with a Cubs virus in that moment. He was in heaven.”
Peter Guber, one of the Warriors’ minority owners, also holds ownership stake in the Dodgers. He was able to get Steve, Nick and Steve’s wife, Margot, tick- ets to Game 3, a couple rows from the Cubs dugout, allowing Nick to watch his beloved franchise try to snap its century-long title drought.
“I remember he cried himself to sleep the night of the Bartman game,” Steve said of Nick. “We were living in San Antonio at the time. I was trying to figure out what to say. I think it was 3-0, 3-1 in the eighth and they collapsed. (Mark) Prior on the mound. Looked like they were home free. He went sobbing off to his bedroom. I went up to his bedroom thinking, ‘What can I say? What can I say?’ And then it was, ‘Oh, yeah, there’s one more game.’ Game 7. He was probably 10 or 9. So I go up and say, ‘Nick, it’s OK, they’re going to win tomorrow.’ He goes, ‘They have no chance tomorrow!’ And he was right. Even at 9 or 10, he knew about momentum. So this is a big deal for him.”
In Game 3, Steve’s Dodgers blasted Nick’s Cubs 6-0. But the series is still ongoing.
“More fun for me than my son,” Steve said of the night. “We had a good time.”
After missing his first seven 3s in Denver this past Friday night, Stephen Curry has hit 10 of his last 19 3s this preseason.