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JaVale McGee of the Denver Nuggets protects the fans as he ended up in the front row after saving the ball against the New Orleans Pelicans at Pepsi Center on Nov. 21, 2014, in Denver. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
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Please let JaVale McGee make the Warriors

He’s legit one of the most entertaining players in the NBA

Clinton Yates @clintonyates
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NBA All Day Golden State Warriors Javale McGee

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    4:30 PMEver since JaVale McGee stepped in to the NBA in 2008, he’s been an up-and-down enigma who most people felt only really played basketball because he sort of had to. He was a lovable enough goofball, who occasionally did something sensational on the court, but was largely too much of a knucklehead to be considered an actual franchise cornerstone.

    He’s bounced around the league for a variety of teams, but now, he’s tearing through the preseason with the Golden State Warriors, and for the sake of everyone, we hope he makes this team. McGee’s antics are basically the patron saint of the best segment in all of sports, “Shaqtin’ A Fool.” If he’s paired up with the best team in all of basketball, the results are destined to be glorious.

    Can you imagine Stephen Curry throwing lobs to this dude? (Getting dunked on in practice by Anderson Varejao doesn’t exactly help his cause.) There’s a small part of me that’s always felt bad for McGee. He’s been getting clowned for some time on national television and, as a result, no one particularly takes him seriously. He’s legit battled injuries throughout his career, but every time he shows up with a new haircut, the immaturity comments come back, even though he’s a 28-year-old man.

    He told the The San Jose Mercury News last week that it still bothers him.

    Shaqtin’ a Fool became popular. McGee was its unwilling star. It morphed into a label he couldn’t shake. Strangers chided him about it in public. McGee privately seethed, most upset, he said, that it was on the league’s network.

    “Fans think it’s real, like that’s real life and they think I’m a dumb person,” McGee said. “It’s just really disappointing that grown men, 50, 40-year-olds are having America’s funniest home videos of a player. And then making it a hashtag and really just trying to ruin someone’s career over basketball mistakes.”

    The NBA needs more guys like McGee for more reasons than just bloopers. He’s a young man who’s happy to be where he is and looking to contribute on a squad that he genuinely gets along with. If the Warriors can find a way to make him work, it might be worth getting NBA League Pass just to watch their bench antics, never mind the actual basketball.

    Long live Pierre.

    Clinton Yates is a tastemaker at Andscape. He likes rap, rock, reggae, R&B and remixes — in that order.