On March 9, Beijing time, the Suns narrowly defeated the Magic 102-99 away. Before the game began, McGee mobilized the whole team, and he roared in the players' tunnel: "We TM are the strongest team in the world!" ”
Let's look at the statistics of the two teams in this game: Ayton shot 10 of 19, 21 points and 19 rebounds, Shamet 21 points, Payne 18 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists, bridges 13 points and 3 steals. McGee played just 12 minutes and had 5 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks on 2-of-3 shooting. The Magic's Carter Jr. had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Bamba had 9 points and 15 rebounds, and Fultz had 11 points and 4 steals on 5-of-10 shooting.
Players like McGee are full of passion on and off the field, and some netizens commented: "McGee's roar and dancing remind me of Zhang Zhaoxu at that time." "In fact, many teams need a player who can cheer up the whole team, and their role is not only reflected in taking a few points on the court and grabbing a few rebounds.
The Suns are at the top of the league, the Magic are at the bottom of the league, what's so strange about winning? Don't forget, Paul has been reimbursed for the regular season, and Booker didn't play a game in March. Without two absolute cores, the Suns are still 3-1 in the last 4 games, only losing to the bucks in the third place in the East. The Suns are currently 52-13, eight wins ahead of the second-place Grizzlies in the West.
With only 17 games left in the regular season, it is basically possible to announce that the Suns have locked in the league first in advance. Even with a 50 percent win rate for the remaining regular season, the Grizzlies will have to win 17 straight to catch up. McKill played in 58 games for the Suns this season, averaging 15.8 minutes per game, 9.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks, shooting 63.9 percent from the field.
McGee's offensive efficiency was 111, 123rd in the league; defensive efficiency was 103.3rd in the league; and net efficiency was 7.7, 37th in the league. For comparison, Embiid has a net efficiency of 8.1, the league's 31st; Ayton's net efficiency is 7.5, and the league's is 40th. Before Paul was injured, McGee's numbers were better. Now that no one is feeding him the ball, McGee's average per game has slipped.
In the summer of 2021, McGee won the Olympic Games with the U.S. men's basketball team, and he also joined the Suns for $5 million a year. Playing next to Paul, every center doesn't have to worry about not having a pie to eat. McGee's average of points and rebounds per game is his second-highest in the past 10 seasons, after the 2018-19 season at the Lakers' average of 12 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
But McGee was the starting center for the Lakers that season and played more time (22.3 minutes). If calculated by the same playing time, The Basic Season has played the highest efficiency in the past 10 years. In the 2019 offseason, the Lakers completed a contract extension with McGee for $8.2 million for 2 years, and he won the NBA championship with the Lakers in the summer of 2020.
It was McGee's third overall title of his career, and he won twice with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018. McGee isn't the kind of player who sits down to win championships, and he averages ten minutes playing in the playoffs. On November 23, 2020, in order to sign Gasol Jr., the Lakers sent McGee and a second-round pick to the Cavaliers in exchange for McKinney and Jordan Bell.
Four months later, Zhuang Shen joined the Lakers, and Gasol Jr. was once abandoned by Vogel. The Lakers had another tumultuous operation that season: On November 21, 2020, Howard joined Philadelphia with a year-end salary. In just three days, the Lakers gave up two center players who won the championship. Other teams like to keep the championship-winning lineup, but the Lakers take the initiative to dismantle the team...
Of course, McGee is not the kind of player who can influence the championship' ownership, but he is like a jackhammer, finding his place on every team. In today's Suns, McGee's playoff experience (64 games) is second only to Paul and Crowder. McGee's overall number of championships is far ahead of other Sun players.
From a regular at five, to three NBA champions and one Olympic champion, McGee wrote his own story. This season, he launched a challenge to the fourth championship of his career!