The Lakers lost most of their games while JaVale McGee was battling his ilness, whatever it was. Ivica Zubac had some good performances in his stead, but it’s hard to replace McGee’s spasticity on the court. There’s a certain energy with him that the other Lakers centers don’t have. Tyson Chandler still plays like he wants to die even after getting traded from the Suns, Zubac plays like the ball is a toxic object not to be touched, and Moritz Wagner plays like he doesn’t get to play.
Now McGee’s back, and the Lakers keep losing anyway. Bad timing with the injury thing between him and LeBron James. But I don’t care about whether the Lakers win or lose. I care about whether or not they get McGee the ball enough times for me to make a highlight video of his exploits.
In this game, they did. Did you know that McGee can do up-and-unders? I think I’ve seen them a few times from him, but it’s obvious that he got jealous of what Enes Kanter was doing, spent the whole halftime practing them with a couple wadded-up pieces of paper and a trashcan, and then busted it out in the face of Luke Kornet.