Second thoughts
Posted on Friday, July 4, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/230463/
McGee gets talent from his mother
When Mom is a professional basketball player, the babysitting arrangements can be quite unorthodox. Take JaVale McGee, who had a prime seat to watch his mother play for a team in Italy when he was less than a year old.
“He sat in the stroller on the bench with the nanny,” Pamela McGee said, “so literally he’s been around the game since he was 9 months old.”
Last week, JaVale, a 20-yearold, 7-foot center who left Nevada after his sophomore year, became the first son of a former WNBA player to be selected in the NBA Draft, chosen No. 18 overall by the Washington Wizards.
“Out of the womb,” said the son with a laugh when asked at what age his mother taught him to dribble a basketball.
JaVale’s pedigree could help speed up his adjustment to the NBA lifestyle.
Before JaVale was born, Pamela played for Southern California and was a member of the 1984 U. S. Olympic team that won the gold medal in Los Angeles. When the WNBA was formed, Pamela returned after many years overseas and played for the Los Angeles Sparks and Sacramento Monarchs. She then became an assistant coach for the Detroit Shock. By that time, her son’s talent was impossible to ignore. “Regular mothers say, ‘Brush your teeth,’” Pamela said. “I’d say, ‘Did you shoot your free throws ?’” The 1-on-1 games between mother and son finally stopped about JaVale’s sophomore or junior year in high school, when Mom could no longer win. “Those days are over,” she said. “I don’t play him anymore because we’re both competitive. And if he beats me, I say I’ll never live it down.”
On the air Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher is spending part of his off-season with the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
Fisher (Little Rock Parkview, UALR ) has signed on to be an analyst alongside veteran playby-play announcer Larry Burnett for five games on the Fox Sports Network.
“Talking about basketball comes very easy to me,” Fisher said. “It’s something I’ve been doing my whole life, so it’s great that I get the chance to share my knowledge and experiences with basketball fans.
“ I’d like to give the fans at home something interesting to listen to. I can tell them what a coach might be saying to his or her players during an important timeout, or what kind of play a team should run during a key possession.”
Yao’s raffle Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is raffling a trip to the Beijing Olympics to raise money for his personal foundation, which he launched to help victims of the May 12 earthquake in China. Tickets for the raffle are $ 2 and can be purchased via credit card on a Web site, www. netraffle. org. The winner will receive roundtrip airfare from a U. S. city to Beijing, a seven-day stay at a hotel in Beijing from Aug. 7-14, two tickets to the China-U. S. basketball game at the Olympics, a $ 1, 500 cash stipend, a guided tour of the Great Wall of China, two Houston Rockets jerseys autographed by Yao, two tickets to a Rockets game and a chance to meet Yao after a Rockets game.
“I am thrilled that I can help fans visit China, experience the Games and, at the same time, help raise money for the Yao Ming Foundation as we begin our campaign to rebuild schools in the earthquake damaged provinces,” Yao said.
Quote of the day “I’ve always been a proponent that we need to sell the sex appeal.” Golfer Jan Stephenson on how the LPGA Tour should promote itself