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Golden State Warriors: JaVale McGee plays pickup with NBA stars

By Carlos Murillo

OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 12: JaVale McGee of the Golden State Warriors poses for a portrait with the Larry O'Brien Trophy after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Five of the 2017 NBA Finals on June 12, 2017 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 12: JaVale McGee of the Golden State Warriors poses for a portrait with the Larry O'Brien Trophy after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Five of the 2017 NBA Finals on June 12, 2017 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Golden State Warriors’ reserve center JaVale McGee was playing pickup with some of the NBA’s best players.

The Golden State Warriors will be starting their title defense next month. They’ve started to get back in the gym, working to be better than they were last season. For some like Draymond Green and Zaza Pachulia, they’re getting into the practice facility. Others are hooping wherever they are.

JaVale McGee has been in the gym all summer long. There was a video that went relatively viral when he was splashing wide open three-pointers. The Internet freaked out because the best shooting team in the league could have a center adding a three-point shot. I’ll let you in on a secret: he’s not.

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McGee continues to put in work. Instead of taking (and making) wide open jumpers or playing half court games, he was getting a full run in. The champ was in New York playing basketball at the hottest gym around. That court has seen a lot of high-profile action this summer.

McGee was playing a pickup game with some of the NBA’s best players and Dahntay Jones on Monday. He was running with stars James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul. Enes Kanter, Kenneth Faried, Iman Shumpert, Victor Oladipo, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Serge Ibaka were there as well. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a summer game in New York without the greatest basketball player of all-time: Hoodie Melo.

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McGee wasn’t really the focus of all the footage that came out, but he did get a nice block on his former teammate, Faried. It’s nice to McGee getting into game shape this early, especially as he seemed to have some conditioning issues last season.

And, for the “Warriors ruined the NBA” crowd, McGee can help everyone else out by offering his championship wisdom to players like Paul and Carmelo Anthony.

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