When the Lakers drafted Bronny James, he joined a long list of NBA stars who followed in their parent’s footsteps in turning pro and playing in the biggest league in the world. JaVale McGee is also on that list. However, he’s one of only four players whose mother played professionally.
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During a recent conversation with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on the All The Smoke podcast, the three-time NBA Champion revealed that his mother, Los Angeles Sparks icon Pamela McGee, was the reason he picked basketball as his profession. The former Lakers star revealed she made it her mission to help her son make it to the WNBA. McGee said,
“If it wasn’t for my mother, I wouldn’t have played basketball. Like, my mother saw… From the jump, my mother was like, ‘Oh yeah, you’re playing basketball.”
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However, Pamela did not coddle her son. When asked if he was ever humbled by her on the court, McGee said,
“She did. But you gotta add who my mama is though. My mama was a beast, man.”
Her tough love and efforts paid off. In the 2008 NBA draft, the center was picked 18th overall and became the first player whose mother plied her trade in the WNBA. While McGee carved out a respectable career, his resume dwarfs compared to his Pamela’s stacked CV.
She played center for USC and won national titles in her junior and senior years. After graduating in 1984, she joined the newly-formed Women’s American Basketball Association’s Dallas Diamonds. She helped the team win the title, but the league was shut down after only one season.
Pamela made her debut for the US Women’s Basketball Team in the FIBA World Championship in 1983, where they were narrowly beaten in the final by the Soviet Union. She was part of the team that roster that won gold in the Pan American Games just weeks later.
In 1984, the center added two more gold medals to her tally. She won the William Jones Cup and the basketball tournament at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Despite achieving so much success at a young age, Pamela had to essentially retire from basketball as there were no professional women’s basketball leagues for her to play in.
However, she came out of her forced retirement in 1997 for the maiden season of the WNBA. Despite being 34, the Sacramento Monarchs picked her second overall in the league’s inaugural draft. She played only two seasons in the WNBA, one for the Monarchs and another for the Sparks before calling it a day on her career.
Circumstances allowed Pamela to play basketball professionally for only three years. However, she lived her dream vicariously through her son.
