Player Bio

JaVale Lindy McGee was born in Flint, Michigan, to George Montgomery and Pamela Denise McGee. McGee's father was a second-round selection in the 1985 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers while his mother was a basketball star at the University of Southern California, won an Olympic gold medal in 1984 and starred for the Los Angeles Sparks and Sacramento Monarchs in the WNBA. Javale McGee also has a younger half sister, Imani McGee-Stafford, who plays in the WNBA. McGee attended two high schools in Michigan -- Detroit Country Day School and Providence Christian -- before transferring to Hales Franciscan High School in Chicago. In 2013, he co-founded Juglife (https://www.juglifewater.com/), an organization that is "committed to bringing awareness to the lifestyle that drinking water can provide" and emphasizes "the need to appreciate, conserve, and promote water for a successful life." With Juglife, McGee has helped build water wells in Africa to provide access to clean water. He also took part in the NBA Africa Game in 2018 as part of Team World. McGee has hosted his annual Great Turkey Giveaway in his hometown of Flint -- along with other locations -- for nine years, helping to distribute turkeys to families in need and disabled veterans. In 2016, while a member of the Dallas Mavericks, McGee hosted the Flint PAL Night benefiting the Flint Police Activities League during a road game in Detroit. Learn more about McGee by following him on Twitter (@JaValeMcGee) and on Instagram (@javalemcgee). McGee moved from the Midwest to play for coach Mark Fox and Nevada. He spent his freshman season as an understudy to Nick Fazekas and played 10.0 minutes per game, posting per-game averages of 3.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocked shots. The seven-foot center moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore and blossomed. He led the WAC in shot blocks with 2.8 per game and added 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds. McGee also hit 52.9 percent of his field-goal attempts. The team went 12-4 in the WAC but fell in the conference tournament to New Mexico State and headed to the CBI. After the season, McGee hired an agent and made his way to the 2008 NBA Draft, where he was chosen by the Washington Wizards with the 18th overall pick.