Last night, Team U.S.A. held an inter-squad scrimmage at Radio City Music Hall as part of Nike’s World Hoops Festival. Wizards center JaVale McGee, named to the team as an injury replacement for Brook Lopez, didn’t have such a great game. In fact, John Schuhmann of NBA.com believes McGee will be among the three players cut prior to the World Championships next month, though “there’s at least a bit of uncertainty” about McGee because he and Tyson Chandler are the only true centers on the team:
But what happens if Chandler gets injured in one of the first few games of the World Championship? There are no injury replacements or inactive list. That 12-man roster which needs to be submitted two days before the tournament begins is as final as final can be.
Michael Lee agrees with Schuhmann’s assessment, saying, “McGee […] is likely on the outside looking in.”
Interestingly, Lee writes that McGee did not stay after the game to watch Jay-Z perform. Instead, McGee “was already focused on practicing and preparing at the New York Knicks facility in Tarrytown on Friday,” and expressed an interest in catching the early bus in order to do extra work before practice.
Team U.S.A. must submit its roster by August 26. Keep checking this StoryStream for more updates about McGee’s time with the national team.
UPDATE: I got in touch with Schuhmann to obtain McGee's statistics from the scrimmage, as there doesn't appear to be a boxscore readily available online. Schuhmann says McGee shot 1-of-2 from the field for 2 points, and added 1 rebound, 1 foul, and 2 turnovers in 9 minutes. However, Schuhmann doesn't trust the minutes figure, as the scrimmage was only 24 minutes long and the stat sheet said Durant played 29 minutes. Many thanks to Schuhmann for his help and consideration.