Why it's better to laugh with JaVale McGee than at him

The Golden State big man has come a long way.

JaVale McGee is one of the most underrated figures in the NBA. Yes, he was a punchline for a long time. You could say he was appreciated then, but mostly because we were laughing at him on Shaqtin’ a Fool. Now, we can laugh with him.

McGee’s been better than ever for the Warriors this season, especially in the playoffs when Kevin Durant was missing due to injury. His averages on field goals and field goal attempts have gone up, too.

It hasn’t been easy to shake his old, blundering reputation. He also got into a wild Twitter beef with Shaquille O’Neal over Shaqtin’ that had everyone involved — Durant, the Warriors as an organization, even Shaq’s mom — jumping into the fray.

OK, so that one was maybe a mixture of laughing and looking on in mild horror. But he’s also the butt of jokes that are more in good humor — like Andre Iguodala using toilet paper with his face on it. (Iguodala and McGee have been teammates twice now, first with the Nuggets and now again with the Warriors.)

McGee can poke his own fun, though. He gave the whole Golden State team blankets with Draymond Green’s sleeping face on them, since Green was exposing everyone else’s naps on Snapchat.

NBA aside, we’ve also recently gotten some great glimpses into McGee’s personal life. His latest is posting this picture of him holding his baby daughter like a phone.

The cutest. Live your life, JaVale! We’re just here to appreciate it.