Long before Draymond Green would find JaVale McGee for those second nature alley-oops the ones that appear on the highlight reel that was once again on display in the Golden State Warriors' win on Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, Green contributed with the best assist out of all of the time. It wasn't even one made on the basketball court.
Draymond Green deserves credit for the recruiting
It was late in the month of July, weeks after Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors in response to their loss in the NBA Finals to Lebron James' Cleveland Cavaliers and in that time the Warriors were searching the free agent market for complementary players on the low.
With Warriors having to trade rim protector Andrew Bogut to the Dallas Mavericks to clear up cap space for Durant's move and Veteran Anderson Varejao battling back injuries.If the Warriors were going to keep their "Strength in Numbers" slogan that has contributed to their accomplishments up until this point. The Warriors will need to find a center who could perform in the limited minutes but also add the needed athleticism that this team was missing.
Here is where Javale McGee, one of the league's most known players for all the wrong reasons. McGee after signing a four-year $44 million contract with the Denver Nuggets in the free agency period of 2012, suffered a run of injuries during this time and as a result only played a total of 62 games in this four year period.
The 29-year-old McGee who was most famous for antics on TNT's blooper reel "Shaqtin A Fool" which has turned him into a basketball comedian found a significant influence in Draymond Green before signing a minimum deal worth approximately $980,000 with the Warriors in July of this year.
Not only did both Draymond Green and JaVale McGee have the same sports agent Wasserman Media Group's B.J Armstrong who played alongside Michael Jordan in the Chicago Bulls' 1991-1993 championship runs.
Not only that both Green and McGee both have been labeled as underdogs their whole career. From Green's early days in Saginaw, Mich. to Michigan State from a second-round pick to become an NBA all-star and champion there is no doubt. Green has exceeded expectations at every point in his career.
JaVale McGee has repaid the Warriors' faith
Draymond Green saw similar characteristics in Javale McGee. McGee has always been unreasonably criticized and who had a skill set that would be of great assistance in helping the Golden State Warriors reclaiming the NBA championship. And as he has always done Green was not afraid to share his opinion on signing McGee to Bob Myers the Warriors general manager. It is well documented that sixth man of the year candidate Warriors own Andre Iguodala also recommended the signing of McGee as they both played with each other previously on the nuggets. But Draymond Green who was instrumental in the successful recruitment of Kevin Durant was a significant contribution to this signing as well
With the absence of Kevin Durant from Wednesday's game due to a calf injury.
Javale McGee not only made all of his shots from the floor for a total of 15 points but also contributed with five rebounds and four blocks while posting a plus-minus of plus 19 in only 13 minutes in the Warriors 110-81 win which gave them a 2-0 series lead. This individual effort follows a regular season in which McGee averaged 6.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 0.9 blocks, and 9.6 minutes in 77 games for the Warriors that finished with a league-best 67-15 regular season record. This effort is not bad for a player who many NBA experts predicted to be no longer in the league at this point.
