Former Laker JaVale McGee stays connected to region through charity work

JaVale McGee has never been a fan of labels – he’d rather not be so confined.

Rim protector? How about perimeter defender? One of the lasting sequences of his recent postseason with the Phoenix Suns is squaring up against Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic near the 3-point line, swiping the ball from the first-team All-NBA guard and cruising coast-to-coast for an easy finish over Jalen Brunson.

While the Suns’ second-round series against the Mavericks didn’t go the way they wanted in seven games, McGee will always have that steal-and-score for his career sizzle reel.

“That got a lot of reaction,” McGee said in an interview with Southern California News Group. “I think it really displayed the fact that I’m an agile big – I don’t think the center position has (negatively) affected the game as much as people think.”

McGee, 34, is likely in the final years of his career, but he still manages to surprise. His two-year tenure with the Lakers, during which he was a member of their 2020 championship team, is a vital chapter in his career reinvention: A consistent target of “Shaqtin’ a Fool” as a younger player, he has emerged as a valuable role-playing big and amiable locker room presence on teams that win.

He’s played on title teams with the Lakers and Golden State Warriors, as well as a pair of high-seeded Phoenix teams the past two years, making another trip to the NBA Finals in 2021. This past season, McGee played in 74 games, averaging 9.2 points and 6.7 rebounds, for the Suns who set a new franchise record for wins (64) in a season: “Our season didn’t end up the way we wanted to end, but I still had a blast with the guys on that team.”

McGee’s legacy in his markets also stretches to his off-the-court work: He recently partnered with Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission to build small, temporary housing in Reseda for the unhoused. The non-profit runs six such sites of what it refers to as “Tiny Homes,” and says the Reseda site has 52 units with 101 beds, as well as access to social services on site.

McGee has done community events for years, but during his time in L.A., he saw signs of the housing crisis that has sprawled across Southern California and become one of the hottest political issues in the region. He questioned if there was more he could do.

“I felt like this was a philanthropy thing I wanted to embark on,” he said. “You can give people a turkey, but the homeless don’t have a home to cook a turkey in. This can really impact people’s lives. … Give them a place to find refuge.”

The offseason is a time for McGee to find time for off-court pursuits, including a music career and other community initiatives. This week also finds him holding a charity softball game for his JUGLIFE Foundation – meant to help provide drinking water around the world – at Chase Field in Phoenix with his Suns teammates Chris Paul and Devin Booker among others. McGee says he’s been to Uganda six times to surveil the work of his foundation, which is also building a sports complex there.