10 Things Celtics Fans No Longer Need To Know About JaVale McGee
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics were reportedly close to signing center JaVale McGee through the 2016 season, a move that would have added more size to their vertically-challenged roster.
However, as we got further into Thursday afternoon, the two sides reportedly could not agree to a contract. So McGee will not become a member of the Celtics.
So now, this becomes 10 Things You NO LONGER Need To Know About JaVale McGee:
- McGee was born in Flint, Michigan on January 19, 1988 into a family known for their basketball. His father, George Montgomery, was a second-round pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in 1985 and his mother, Pamela McGee, was an All American at USC. She won back-to-back national championships with the Trojans, an Olympic gold medal playing for the U.S. in 1984, and went on to be a star for the Los Angeles Sparks and Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA.
McGee is the first son of a WNBA player to play in the NBA.
- He played two years at Nevada before declaring for NBA draft in 2008. As a sophomore, McGee averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game.
- McGee was drafted 18th overall by the Washington Wizards in 2008. When he came into the league, he had the largest armspan of any current NBA player at seven-feet, 6.5 inches. That stood until Rudy Gobert (now of the Utah Jazz) entered the league in 2013 with an armspan of seven-feet, 8.5 inches.
- McGee took part in the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest, placing second to champion Blake Griffin. He was the first player to use three basketballs at one time in the dunk contest:
- McGee has one career triple double, which he notched on March 15, 2011 as a member of the Wizards. He scored 11 points, 12 rebounds and blocked 12 shots in a loss to the Chicago Bulls, taking numerous bad shots at the end of the game to achieve the feat. He reached double digits in points on a late dunk, and received a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
Former Celtics great Kevin McHale, who was calling the game, said it was a "bad triple-double" on the game broadcast.
- Throughout his career, McGee has been known for creating a few low-lights along the way. Here are a few:
- McGee's career averages (8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game) are disappointing for a seven-footer, but his per 36 numbers have been very good throughout his career. He has averaged 15.2 points, 10 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per 36 minutes over his six-year career.
- McGee was second in the NBA with 193 blocks during the 2010-11 season, behind only Serge Ibaka (198 blocks) of Oklahoma City. He averaged 2.4 blocks per game that season, second to Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut's 2.6 blocks per game.
- He wore No. 34 with the Wizards and Nuggets before switching to No. 1 for his brief stint with the 76ers. He'll likely have to find a new number with Boston, with No. 1 retired for Celtics founder Walter Brown, and No. 34 likely heading to the rafters soon for Paul Pierce.
- You can follow McGee on Twitter @JaValeMcGee34, and enjoy RTs like this:
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