JaVale McGee, formerly of the L.A. Lakers
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 21: JaVale McGee #7 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during the fourth quarter in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Staples Center on February 21, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The Lakers won 117-105. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
Sixteen-year veteran JaVale McGee may not be in the NBA any more. But he is still in basketball. And he is still winning.
McGee has spent this past season in Puerto Rico, where he has been a member of the Vaqueros de Bayamon team. Earlier this month, the Vaqueroes won the 17th championship in franchise history with a Game Five victory over the Leones de Ponce to close out the 2025 Puerto Rican BSN Finals, and take home their second title in four years.
In the title-deciding game, McGee was quiet, going scoreless with just three rebounds in 17 minutes of play. But in every other game, he was a needle-mover. McGee’s 33-point, 12-rebound performance in Game Three was the decisive factor in an important victory that gave the Vaqueros a series lead that they would never relinquish. And for McGee, it gave him yet another title.
In the second half of his career, winning championships has just been what he does.
McGee’s Three NBA Championships
Drafted out of Nevada all the way back in 2008, the first few seasons of McGee’s professional career were disjointed, as were the Washington Wizards teams that he was a member of. Over time, however, McGee would shift into (and accept) a role; tempering his youthful enthusiasm for trying to do too much, using his athleticism around the basket, and dunking everything he could.
From imperious youth, McGee grew into a valuable depth option, and won his first NBA Championship in the 2016-17 season as a member of the Golden State Warriors accordingly. It was the first of several. McGee would re-sign with the Warriors the following summer, play a second season with them, and win a second title, before moving to the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2018, where he would spend the next two seasons – and winning the 2019-20 NBA Championship along the way.
From there, McGee would add stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets (for whom he had also played between 2012 and 2015), Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks (returning after a previous stint in 2015-16) and Sacramento Kings, before leaving the NBA last summer and moving to Puerto Rico. As above, though, the winning did not stop there.
A Late-Career World Tour
For the Vaqueros this past season, McGee – leaving the mainland US for the first time in his professional year – would enjoy the benefits afforded by the lower standard of play, lesser athleticism and the weight of his star power, and enjoy a much bigger role than he ever had. He averaged 17.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game on the season, and also took it upon himself to attempt 39 three-pointers in 41 games, hitting ten of them. It is hard for anyone to do much more than that in 26.6 minutes per game.
McGee has already decided on his home for next season. He will move to Australia and play for the Illawarra Hawks, where he will pair up with former Philadelphia 76ers big man Jonah Bolden (who last year returned to basketball after a few seasons away trying to become a cryptocurrency guy) and former Orlando Magic draft pick Tyler Harvey. McGee will be replacing the departed Lachlan Olbrich, who has moved to the NBA as a draft pick/two-way contract signee of the Chicago Bulls – and with Illawarra, his new head coach will be Jayson Tatum’s brother, Justin.
Of note is the fact that Illawarra were the Australian NBL champions last season. Championship teams covet JaVale McGee all around the world, it appears.
McGee Still In The NBA, Sort Of
Even though he is no longer on an NBA playing roster, and may never be again, McGee is still cashing NBA paychecks.
In August 2023, the Mavericks chose to waive McGee only one year after signing him as a free agent to a three-year, $17.2 million contract back in July 2022. In doing so, they used the stretch provision on his remaining two years, which extended his cap hold out until the end of the 2027-28 season. You may have to go out to Australia to see JaVale McGee play now, but you need only need look at the Mavericks’ cap sheet to see his name still in NBA circles. And it will be for a good while yet.
Over the course of his career, McGee has won back the critics, and earned plenty of respect around the league. Seemingly, he also has it around the world. Where once he was the punchline, and the victim of the ridiculous Shaqtin’ A Fool bullying, McGee has long since become the savvy, useful, popular veteran – now at an age where most of his peers have retired, McGee is instead spreading that brand around the globe.