JaVale McGee admittedly had a quick temper. Even as a rookie, JaVale didn't let anyone push him around, and the word was he had one of the best fighting hands for a big man in the NBA. In his younger days with the Washington Wizards , the seven-foot center detailed an airplane altercation with one of the team's veterans. Needless to say, it didn't go well for the vet.
"I ain't even gonna say who the player is that I got in a fight with. But we went to Berlin… This is my rookie year, and I don't understand that preseason means nothing," McGee said on the Above the Rim with DH 12 podcast. "So we lost, and we getting on a plane, and I think we're going to another city in Germany or something. I was sitting next to my teammate, 6'11 forward, and we was sitting next to each other. I had the window, he had the aisle."
From out of nowhere, the unnamed veteran tried to mess with JaVale. As McGee said, he was mad because of the preseason loss, and he wasn't having it that day.
"He was like, 'You a rook, bro. You gotta sit in the back.' I'm like, 'Bro, my seat's right there, bro. Let me get to my seat.'He was like, 'Man, watch out. You ain't getting nowhere.' He trying to punk me in front of the whole team… He pushed me a little bit… So, I punched him, and then I put him in a headlock… And I wasn't letting go," McGee added.
Cooler heads eventually prevailed as their teammates swarmed and tried to get the rookie center's arms off the veteran's neck. What made it worse was that Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld took the vet's side and made him sit in the back for his role in the altercation.
McGee learned how to verbalize and articulate his anger
There were a couple of vets on the team that year that may have started something with JaVale. The Flint, Michigan native already named Caron Butler as one of the people who tried to break up the fight. McGee also said Gilbert Arenas did not try to mess with him, while Antawn Jamison was a nice guy overall.
That leaves one name out in the open: DeShawn Stevenson. Stevenson once called LeBron James "overrated," so he was crazy enough to stir the pot. Nevertheless, McGee got in trouble for that fight high up in the air and thought he had to change his ways.
"I wasn't going to say I was a hothead, but I wasn't going for a lot of s***," the three-time champion admitted. "But now, I know how to articulate more. I didn't know how to articulate when I was younger; it was straight violence. I'm not gonna tell you how I feel. I'll show you."
Related: "Why are you doing this?" - Jeanie Buss said she used to get in a fight with Phil Jackson for holding Thanksgiving practices
Part of three championship teams
The 2008 18th overall pick eventually learned how to curtail his penchant for violence and won three championships in 2017, 2018, and 2020. Title contenders often need an angry edge, and McGee has brought plenty of that.
In addition to adjusting his attitude, JaVale had to refine his game. Gone were the coast-to-coast plays that often landed him on NBA TV's blooper reel. Now, it was all about sticking to his role and executing it flawlessly.
And that he did. McGee became a per-minute star and an analytics darling in the latter part of his career. He averaged 21 points, 15 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per 36 minutes as a backup big for the Phoenix Suns just two seasons ago. He shot at least 62% in each of his championship seasons simply by being around the basket, dunking everything within a three-foot radius.
JaVale is still searching for a team for the 2024-25 season. The 36-year-old's NBA career is up in the air, no pun intended, but even if he quits playing right now, he already had one hell of a resumè.
Related: "I didn't understand that people took it serious" - Javale McGee on how he was negatively affected by Shaqtin-A-Fool
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