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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORS

June 8, 2018

JaVale McGee

Cleveland, Ohio: Game Four

Warriors - 108, Cavaliers - 85

Q. Your career, early in your career, a lot of ups and downs. Can you just talk about coming to the Warriors and how that's changed your career and your outlook and your perception, just, you know, with everybody? You're a two-time champ now.
JAVALE MCGEE: I mean, yeah, definitely my career has definitely been up and down. Coming to the Warriors was definitely a blessing. I came on a non-guarantee, contributed, and we won the championship. Then this year was kind of rocky for me also, just playing time-wise, but we all were grinding. We all came through and back-to-back. That's just an amazing feeling.

I mean, there's nothing comparing to it, just back-to-back champion from where we've all been. Even this season I was telling the guys, I was saying to the guys, this season seemed hard. It seemed a lot harder than the year before. But everybody grinded it out. We worked extremely hard. It was not easy at all.

Q. What was it like to be able to go through this experience with Nick, somebody you started out with a long time ago and you guys kind of wound your way through your careers, but going through this experience and having him go through it like you did the first time last year, what's that been like for you?
JAVALE MCGEE: Oh, man, it was an amazing experience. Even when we won the Western Conference Finals, I was telling him. He was really excited, like, Oh, and I'm like, This ain't nothing compared to The Finals. Once you get to The Finals, it's a whole different ballgame. Even though we're in the playoffs, it's just levels.

It was amazing. Just being able to go through it with one of my best friends in the league. So he's got a championship now. I've got two championships now. I mean, what else can you say?

Q. Steph did just about everything for you guys in this series, and yet once again he comes away without winning The Finals MVP. I get a feeling in your room nobody cares about all that stuff. Kevin could win it every time. Why is it and what is it about your team?
JAVALE MCGEE: Our motto is just us, and being on a team with four All-Stars is unheard of. The fact that being a part of it, being behind the scenes and seeing how unselfish these guys are is amazing. I'm just so happy I got to be a part of two back-to-back championships with four All-Stars who are as unselfish as they are.

Q. Who sets the tone for that unselfishness?
JAVALE MCGEE: It's everybody, like as a conglomerate. All of us together are just unselfish. We don't care if we're getting buckets or not getting buckets. As long as we're doing the right thing, we're in the right spots, we're helping each other out on defense, it just works for us.

Q. I know it's your second ring, but how much does it mean to you to have such an impact on this series and play such important minutes, getting starts, and being able to really alter things inside at the rim?
JAVALE MCGEE: Yeah, definitely. First played San Antonio, I got the start, nice impact. Then we go to New Orleans, I don't really get to play a lot. I think I played like three minutes. Then we play Houston, I don't play at all. And then we come back in The Finals and it just -- Coach calls on me and I get to start. It's just an amazing feeling.

It really just proves like just anything you're going through, anything you're doing, stay focused. Just stay focused on your plan. Stay focused on your goals. Stay focused on your future. Don't let anybody on the outside affect what you have going on inside in your life.

Because it wasn't easy. It was hard. Oh, I'm not playing. It would be easy to get out of shape. It would be easy to just quit, like, oh, I'm not playing anyway. Who cares. But I stayed focused.

The team, they believed in me, and we got the win.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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