[size=5]旧文求翻[/size]
[size=5][b]Mother-son legacy a first for WNBA/NBA[/b][/size]
[size=4][b]When Nevada's JaVale McGee gets drafted into the NBA, he will makehistory as the first son of a former WNBA player to play in the NBA.[/b][/size]
By Jeremy Lundblad
Special to ESPN.com
[url=http://search.espn.go.com/jeremy-lundblad/]Archive
"Coooooooop," he'd chant, then start raising the roof. (It was the mid-'90s, after all).
Likeany kid playing basketball, JaVale McGee imitated his idols whenmessing around on the court. He'd knock down a deep shot and celebratejust as he'd seen the pros do.
"Coooooooop."
But there was no "Coop" in the NBA in those days.
McGee was mimicking Cynthia Cooper, his mom's teammate in Europe and a future WNBA star.
"[JaVale] views women differently because he's always been around strong women," said Pamela McGee, his mother.
She would know. The elder McGee starred, along with twin sister Paula,on back-to-back NCAA championship teams at USC. She won Olympic goldbefore starting a professional career that took her to Brazil, France,Italy and Spain. Her son was her travel companion, thanks to contractterms that included nannies and teammates who helped with thebabysitting -- including Cynthia Cooper.
Throughout the20-year-old McGee's life, his mom has taught him the game ofbasketball. But as the WNBA enters its twelfth season, the Nevadacenter represents a piece of history that many probably didn't expectto see this soon. The Nevada sophomore not only is on the verge ofbecoming an NBA lottery pick but also will become the first WNBAoffspring drafted into the NBA.
Given his genes, it's nogreat shock to see McGee on NBA radars. Like his mom, his father alsohad an impressive career. "Big" George Montgomery was a force atIllinois in the early 1980s. In 1985, he was a second-round pick of theTrail Blazers, but he never played in the NBA.
It wasclear from an early age that McGee was blessed with his parents' size.He was 11 pounds, 11 ounces at birth. From the age of 9 months, youcould find him in the gym with his mother, in a stroller next to thebench.
McGee learned the game by watching his mom and the European style ofplay. His mom preached the importance of learning the game from outsideand then developing inside. "She never really made me go to the post,"McGee said.
That philosophy is reflected in how he plays thegame today. The 7-foot center shot over 35 percent from beyond the arcin his college career.
After eight years of playingoverseas, Pamela McGee was 34 years old with two children when the WNBAlaunched in 1997. Despite her age, she jumped at the chance to playback home, and the Sacramento Monarchs selected her with the secondoverall pick in the 1997 WNBA draft.
Thanks to the WNBA,thousands of young girls across the country found role models on theprofessional level. Girls no longer only heard stories of the greatnessof Nancy Lieberman or waited until the Olympics to watch TeresaWeatherspoon, Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and scores of other buddingstars. They were live on television every week in the WNBA.
Butgirls weren't the only ones finding heroes in the newly formed league.The younger McGee, then 9 years old, sat behind the Monarchs' bench,watching and learning from his mom.
In that inauguralseason, Pamela McGee joined seven other mothers playing in the WNBA.That included Sheryl Swoopes, who gave birth during the season and isstill an active player. JaVale McGee held the distinction of being theeldest of the children, most of whom were still infants. He also wasone of only three sons.
Still, the draft hopeful doesn'tremember many details about watching his mom. "I remember sitting inthe audience watching them play, wishing I could be out there playing,"he said.
His mother's fame never was something he thought much about. Instead, it was, "That's my mom, she plays basketball."
"I really didn't look at it like she was famous or anything," he recalled.
Thatsentiment is echoed by the former WNBA player: "He has no clue what Idid as a basketball player," she said. "He just sees me as his mother."
The forward/center played two seasons with the Monarchs and L.A. Sparks before retiring prior to the 1999 season.
Themarriage of the WNBA and NBA already has produced several familyconnections. Most notably, Karl Malone's daughter is Cheryl Ford, lastyear's WNBA All-Star Game MVP.
Spurs reserve forward [url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3501]Ime Udokaand his sister Mfon are the only brother-sister combo in NBA-WNBAhistory. That will change when Candace Parker, the top pick in the 2008WNBA draft, suits up this month. Her brother is Raptors guard [url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3171]Anthony Parker. Also, Trail Blazers 2007 draft pick Rudy Fernandez is the brother of Marta, who plays for the Sparks.
Butnever before has the son of a WNBA player suited up in the NBA. Thatwill change next fall when McGee will suit up for his NBA debut, justlike he watched his mother do in the WNBA 11 years ago.
"As a single mother, you just always sit back and say, 'That's my baby,'" Pamela said. "He's realized his dream."
[u]http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/columns/story?page=080513-mcgee
650卡
[/u]
[size=5]旧文求翻[/size]
[size=5][b]Mother-son legacy a first for WNBA/NBA[/b][/size]
[size=4][b]When Nevada's JaVale McGee gets drafted into the NBA, he will makehistory as the first son of a former WNBA player to play in the NBA.[/b][/size]
By Jeremy Lundblad
Special to ESPN.com
[url=http://search.espn.go.com/jeremy-lundblad/]Archive
"Coooooooop," he'd chant, then start raising the roof. (It was the mid-'90s, after all).
Likeany kid playing basketball, JaVale McGee imitated his idols whenmessing around on the court. He'd knock down a deep shot and celebratejust as he'd seen the pros do.
"Coooooooop."
But there was no "Coop" in the NBA in those days.
McGee was mimicking Cynthia Cooper, his mom's teammate in Europe and a future WNBA star.
"[JaVale] views women differently because he's always been around strong women," said Pamela McGee, his mother.
She would know. The elder McGee starred, along with twin sister Paula,on back-to-back NCAA championship teams at USC. She won Olympic goldbefore starting a professional career that took her to Brazil, France,Italy and Spain. Her son was her travel companion, thanks to contractterms that included nannies and teammates who helped with thebabysitting -- including Cynthia Cooper.
Throughout the20-year-old McGee's life, his mom has taught him the game ofbasketball. But as the WNBA enters its twelfth season, the Nevadacenter represents a piece of history that many probably didn't expectto see this soon. The Nevada sophomore not only is on the verge ofbecoming an NBA lottery pick but also will become the first WNBAoffspring drafted into the NBA.
Given his genes, it's nogreat shock to see McGee on NBA radars. Like his mom, his father alsohad an impressive career. "Big" George Montgomery was a force atIllinois in the early 1980s. In 1985, he was a second-round pick of theTrail Blazers, but he never played in the NBA.
It wasclear from an early age that McGee was blessed with his parents' size.He was 11 pounds, 11 ounces at birth. From the age of 9 months, youcould find him in the gym with his mother, in a stroller next to thebench.
McGee learned the game by watching his mom and the European style ofplay. His mom preached the importance of learning the game from outsideand then developing inside. "She never really made me go to the post,"McGee said.
That philosophy is reflected in how he plays thegame today. The 7-foot center shot over 35 percent from beyond the arcin his college career.
After eight years of playingoverseas, Pamela McGee was 34 years old with two children when the WNBAlaunched in 1997. Despite her age, she jumped at the chance to playback home, and the Sacramento Monarchs selected her with the secondoverall pick in the 1997 WNBA draft.
Thanks to the WNBA,thousands of young girls across the country found role models on theprofessional level. Girls no longer only heard stories of the greatnessof Nancy Lieberman or waited until the Olympics to watch TeresaWeatherspoon, Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and scores of other buddingstars. They were live on television every week in the WNBA.
Butgirls weren't the only ones finding heroes in the newly formed league.The younger McGee, then 9 years old, sat behind the Monarchs' bench,watching and learning from his mom.
In that inauguralseason, Pamela McGee joined seven other mothers playing in the WNBA.That included Sheryl Swoopes, who gave birth during the season and isstill an active player. JaVale McGee held the distinction of being theeldest of the children, most of whom were still infants. He also wasone of only three sons.
Still, the draft hopeful doesn'tremember many details about watching his mom. "I remember sitting inthe audience watching them play, wishing I could be out there playing,"he said.
His mother's fame never was something he thought much about. Instead, it was, "That's my mom, she plays basketball."
"I really didn't look at it like she was famous or anything," he recalled.
Thatsentiment is echoed by the former WNBA player: "He has no clue what Idid as a basketball player," she said. "He just sees me as his mother."
The forward/center played two seasons with the Monarchs and L.A. Sparks before retiring prior to the 1999 season.
Themarriage of the WNBA and NBA already has produced several familyconnections. Most notably, Karl Malone's daughter is Cheryl Ford, lastyear's WNBA All-Star Game MVP.
Spurs reserve forward [url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3501]Ime Udokaand his sister Mfon are the only brother-sister combo in NBA-WNBAhistory. That will change when Candace Parker, the top pick in the 2008WNBA draft, suits up this month. Her brother is Raptors guard [url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3171]Anthony Parker. Also, Trail Blazers 2007 draft pick Rudy Fernandez is the brother of Marta, who plays for the Sparks.
Butnever before has the son of a WNBA player suited up in the NBA. Thatwill change next fall when McGee will suit up for his NBA debut, justlike he watched his mother do in the WNBA 11 years ago.
"As a single mother, you just always sit back and say, 'That's my baby,'" Pamela said. "He's realized his dream."
[u]http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/columns/story?page=080513-mcgee
650卡
[/u]
