JaVale McGee is an entertaining player no matter what. Whether he's slamming alley-oops from LeBron James or ending up on Shaqtin' A Fool for a hilarious miscue. However, as fun as it can be to highlight McGee's mistakes, the Los Angeles Lakers center says the seemingly harmless segment took a toll on him and his enthusiasm for the game.
“Just the access of people being able to put information out or show certain clips and without a story behind it,” JaVale McGee told Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register.
“It would be a lowlight of you missing the layup, and now you’re like, ‘F, I can’t miss any layups, I gotta do everything perfectly.’ Like overthinking things. It really affects, in turn, the way you play the game.”
This is understandable. McGee became a staple on Shaquille O'Neal's segment meant to highlight hilariously bad plays. It's all in good fun, but the round-the-clock criticism has to get old for McGee. It makes sense that his constant appearances on Shaqtin' A Fool would cause him to overthink the game.
He felt like every single one of his mistakes would be scrutinized and ridiculed. Obviously, he makes a great living playing in the NBA, but it can't be easy to have a constant cloud of criticism hanging over your head.
Today, McGee is an NBA champion and he has found a home in Los Angeles. He's playing well and staying off of Shaqtin' A Fool for the time being. Let's hope he keeps it that way.
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