Former Golden State Warriors champion JaVale McGee has been dominating in the NBL this season, finding new life as a star in another league. Though McGee is no longer playing in the NBA, he’s still an elite professional basketball player, and he’s proving that with his current play.
McGee was an integral part of the Warriors’ title years, acting as a backup center before moving on and helping the Los Angeles Lakers win a ring in The Bubble, too. Eventually, his years in the NBA fizzled out, but he still has some playing years left in him, and he’s putting them to good use in Australia.
He’s gone from role player to superstar.
How is JaVale McGee doing?
This is the second year McGee has spent playing overseason, though he hasn’t been in the land down under for both of them. He spent the 2024-25 campaign playing in the Puerto Rican BSN with Vaqueros de Bayamon.
Now, at 37 years old, he’s moved on to the NBL, where he is putting up some incredible numbers. He played very well in Puerto Rico, yet somehow, he’s improved his stats in Australia.
So far this season, McGee has appeared in 15 total games for the Illawarra Hawks (who are coached by Justin Tatum, Jayson Tatum’s father) across all competitions and is playing 26.9 minutes per contest.
In those games, McGee has averaged 20.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.0 blocks while shooting 56.8% from the floor and 35.7% from deep on just under one three-point attempt per game.
McGee ranks fourth in the entire NBL in scoring this season, and he’s playing fewer minutes than anyone else in the top 10. He also tops the league in blocks per game and is second in rebounding behind Zylan Cheatham.
At the NBA level, McGee was merely a role player, though he was a pretty solid one. He gave the Warriors some great backup center minutes throughout the years.
But he was more than just a Warrior. McGee was a true NBA journeyman, having played for nine NBA teams across an impressive 16-year career.
His best statistical seasons came early in his career with the Washington Wizards (and he even finished top 20 in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2010-11), and he had his best scoring season with the Lakers in 2018-19.
But nothing ever came close to what he’s been able to do in the NBL.