I’m all for anonymous sources because without it the world may have blown up by now. However, what I’m not a fan of is anonymous quotes from players unfairly throwing shade at another player through the media. The most recent example of this is from an unnamed Cleveland Cavaliers player who thinks JaVale McGee is not “smart enough” to play in this year’s NBA Finals.
During Tuesday’s The Basketball Analogy Show, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin told Brian Windhorst, who has famously covered the Cavs for a while, that one Cleveland player told him McGee didn’t have the brain power to play in the finals.
“I had a Cavs player disagree with your opinion of McGee, Brian. He postulated to me that he doesn’t even think McGee’s gonna be able to get on the court or certainly not stay on the court because he doesn’t think he’s quote, unquote ‘smart enough’ to be able to play in this series.”
So here’s the thing about that quote, the unnamed player is basically saying McGee isn’t smart enough to keep up with the pace of play or level of play in the series. Right? The unnamed player isn’t saying that McGee doesn’t know enough about history or science or is dumb enough that way to not play, but instead isn’t smart enough to handle the level of play in the upcoming NBA Finals?
Are you kidding me? That’s so incredibly stupid.
McGee has been solid for the Warriors during the NBA playoffs so far, where Golden State has won all 12 games they’ve played in. McGee is averaging 7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 10.5 minutes per game during the Warriors’ run.
While these numbers don’t necessarily make McGee look like an all-star, they are pretty solid for just 10.5 minutes per game. To say he’s not “smart enough” for the upcoming Finals is just petulant and stupid. If a player is going to make a statement stupid and silly like that, have the guts to attach your name to it.
No offense to McGee, but it’s not like the unnamed player was going after someone like Steph Curry or Kevin Durant or anyone else who is going to play a majority of each game. Instead, he went after a guy who plays around 10 minutes per game. Shame on the unnamed Cavs’ player and his stupid thoughts. I hope McGee goes off and is the MVP of the series.
