Act One: The Fantastic Fall
JaVale began the year wreaking havoc on both ends of the floor. In the first two months of the season, some were considering the center a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate. He was the anchor of the Lakers defense, contesting nearly every shot in sight, if not swatting them against the backboard and igniting a fastbreak.
The video above features some highlights from one of his best games against the Portland Trail Blazers on November 3rd. Here is a video of his personal highlight reel.
He displayed some of the most outstanding defensive anticipation of his career, patiently waiting for his opponents to rise for a shot just to get flat-out rejected.
In this game, he correctly showed out of the pick-and-roll to contest 3-pointers from elite shooters, helping to limit Damian Lillard to a mediocre 10-23 shooting. Whenever he was beaten after hedging on a screen, JaVale hustled to recover and swatted multiple layups at the very last second.
Games like this were not aberrations for JaVale at this point of the season. During October, November, and December he averaged plus/minuses of +7.2, -2.0, and +5.1, per Basketball-Reference. He averaged 2.5 blocks per game as well, but this didn’t account for the bevy of shots he routinely altered around the rim. His level of competitiveness was unparalleled during this stretch, as he began proving his numerous doubters wrong.
The Lakers also experienced their two best defensive months during this portion of the season, as seen in November and December’s defensive ratings of 103.4 and 106.7, per NBA.com. To put these stats into perspective, the current leader in team defensive rating is the Milwaukee Bucks, who are at a remarkable104.2 for the season.
This absurd surge by the team was in large part due to JaVale McGee’s stellar play on that end. No other starter possessed any ability to defend the rim, so the 11-year big man was heavily relied on for defensive stability. The team’s record was 21-16 at the end of December, and they appeared to be a sure-fire bet to make the playoffs.
When LeBron went down on Christmas Day, all hope disintegrated from the Lakers’ locker room. This began the low-point of JaVale’s season-long performance. Oddly enough, young players on the team stepped up their play during their leader’s absence, but veterans, like JaVale, struggled immensely.
However, unlike some of the other Laker veterans, it was imperative for JaVale to perform well in order for the team to succeed. Once the big man began to slump the team’s defense went down the toilet of turmoil, and playoff hopes gradually vanished into the dry Los Angeles air.