When the Golden State Warriors signed center JaVale McGee in the summer of 2016, the move came as a shock to many and fans around the league were poking fun at the Warriors for signing the mercurial McGee.

Before he joined the Warriors, JaVale McGee had this reputation of being a goofy player on the court who really didn't know how to play basketball. He was the star of Shaquille O'Neal's show “Shaqtin' A Fool.” Every week, McGee was getting made fun of by Shaq when he would do something mindless and funny on the floor. It took a toll on McGee and his love for the game was being affected.

That's when Warriors head coach Steve Kerr came in and stood up for JaVale McGee. Kerr shot back at O’Neal in 2017 for picking on McGee, and the 7-footer finally had someone who was in his corner and looking out for him, via Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register:

The defining moment with the Warriors, aside from winning two rings, might’ve been when Kerr shot back at O’Neal in 2017 for picking on JaVale McGee so often. It was validating to know an organization would step up to defend him. It pushed away the clouds that had been hanging over his head for years.

“If you put negative things out about anyone every day, they’re gonna start believing it, sorta like propaganda if you think about it,” McGee said. “I think that was definitely mentally draining, and for anybody else, it was like, ‘Oh, he’s really like that. He’s dumb, or he’s bad at basketball.’ And it was putting it, not only in fans’ minds, but GMs’ minds and coaches’ minds.”

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McGee won two championships with the Warriors and played the best basketball of his career with Golden State. He gave the Warriors something they didn't have: A rim protector who was also a high-flyer on the offensive end. McGee's numbers with the Warriors won't jump off the page, but if you watched the games, you could see right away the impact he had on the defensive end of the floor and in the pick-and-roll game.

JaVale McGee now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers and he's off to a great start this season. The 30-year-old is averaging 14.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks while shooting 63.0 percent from the field.