From LeBron and Bieber to the Gong: NBA champion’s new life Down Under

2 weeks ago 7

Three-time NBA champion and Olympic gold medal winner JaVale McGee played 16 NBA seasons in packed arenas on the same teams as the likes of LeBron James and Steph Curry. He also found time to get nominated for a Grammy with Justin Bieber.

On Monday, McGee landed in Australia for the first time. He was driven straight to Wollongong Golf Club and unveiled as the Illawarra Hawks’ latest signing. The 213-centimetre centre walked through the clubhouse barely noticed by the retirees enjoying the lunch specials while discussing the merits of the tee shots below.

Illawarra Hawks signing JaVale McGee and coach Justin Tatum in Wollongong on Monday.

Despite the muted welcome from club members and visitors, McGee is ready to be recognised in Wollongong and is ready to lead the NBL champions after so many years of taking the bumps and bruises while allowing his more vaunted teammates to shine.

“The normal person part, I don’t think I’m ever going to be that in my life., I’m 7′1″, so I stand out like a sore thumb,” McGee said.

“Once they [the public] do figure out, oh, you used to play in the NBA, most people know that, I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to feel that way as a normal person.

“For me now, it’s more main character syndrome, in the NBA, I’m not the main character. I’m more of a role player, which is fine.

“I know how to play my role and do what I want, but for this second part of my career, I want to be the main character. I’m going to choose where I want to go.”

McGee’s path to professional basketball was set at a young age. His mother, Pamela, is a great of the women’s game, winning an Olympic gold in 1984. His father, George, was drafted into the NBA by the Portland Trail Blazers, but wasn’t able to suit up in the league due to a broken foot. Once free from injury, he enjoyed a professional career in Europe.

McGee was raised in a house filled with trophies in Flint, Michigan, but didn’t have to look far to see what could happen if you didn’t take the right path in life. Flint is a city synonymous with a historically toxic water supply and a high murder rate. In that environment, McGee developed mentally and physically as an elite basketball prospect. After a stint at the University of Nevada, the Washington Wizards made him the 18th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

McGee’s early years in the league were difficult, not only due to having to lift his game to compete with the best players in the world, but also contending with being mocked by NBA great Shaquille O’Neal on a regular television segment called Shaqtin′ A Fool.

LeBron James and JaVale McGee playing for the Lakers in 2020.

“Clearly, if you’re the most famous big man in the NBA, and you’re saying something about somebody on TV, that can affect somebody,” McGee said.

“But I spoke up for what I needed to speak up for, but I kept my head down and kept working. So, nothing like that can stop what I’ve got going on or stop my focus or my confidence in myself. That’s one thing no one will ever take from me is the confidence in myself.”

McGee has few pre-conceived ideas of Wollongong, or indeed Australia. Outside of basketball, he is keen to study the country’s music scene and understand artists across different genres.

Since he was a student in Reno, McGee made music as an escape from the court. In 2020, he was nominated for a Grammy for Justin Bieber’s album ‘Changes’, after co-writing and co-producing the song “Available”.

“I knew Justin Bieber’s writer [Poo Bear], I had a relationship with him. He wrote some songs for me. I literally paid him money to write some songs for me and never used the songs,” McGee said.

“But I kept that relationship going, about seven years later, I was in LA playing for the Lakers, my manager told me we should go into the studio together.

“I went through a couple of my beats. Poo Bear found this little stem that I had, it’s a song called Changes. We wrote the whole song ... then he called me maybe two months, three months later. He was like, ‘we made the album’, I said ‘whose album?’

“He was like, the Bieber album. He sent me the final version. It had Bieber’s voice with the song, the lyrics that we wrote ... It was downhill from there.”

McGee’s main focus remains on basketball, and the passion to compete still burns at 37 years old. On his right forearm is a tattoo of his three NBA championships won in 2017 and 2018 with the Golden State Warriors and in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers.

McGee watched both James and Curry spend hours of work each day, perfecting their craft. The centre will start training two days after landing in Australia, and he is clear what he wants his legacy to be in Wollongong.

“I feel like that goal of winning the championship sets in forever, and that’s something that the fans and everybody else will remember forever, and they’ll remember you for, and they’ll love you for, so winning the championship here is really the only goal I have,” McGee said.