JaVale McGee joins first mother-son gold medal duo in US Olympic history
After winning Olympic gold with USA men’s basketball Friday, JaVale McGee and his mother, Pamela, became the first ever first mother-son gold medal duo in U.S. Olympic history.
Pamela McGee earned a gold medal with the U.S. women’s basketball team at the 1984 Los Angles Olympics, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
How JaVale and Pam McGee made awesome mother-son Olympic history
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First mother-son duo to ever do it 😤
The McGee family basketball legacy continues! #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/n5vdMeMU7Z
— On Her Turf (@OnHerTurf) August 7, 2021
But the McGees are not the first mother-son combo to win Olympic gold medals.
The only other known time this has happened was when the Soviet Union’s Valentina Rastvorova won gold in fencing at the 1960 Rome Games, and then her son, Yevgeny Grishin, won gold in water polo in 1980 in Moscow, according to the Associated Press and Olympic historian Bill Mallon.
“It’s an amazing feeling, man,” said [JaVale] McGee, who adds gold to his three NBA titles. “I’ve got a gold medal. My mother has a gold medal. We’re the first to do it, mother-son duo. It’s an amazing feeling. You can’t really explain it. Just knowing you’re the best in the world, amazing, man.”
Sparks alumna Pamela McGee and JaVale McGee have just become the first mother and son duo to win a gold medal for Team USA 🥇#RootedinLA pic.twitter.com/zpAqSUTktV
— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) August 7, 2021
JaVale was a late addition to the U.S. men’s basketball Olympic lineup after Kevin Love withdrew about a week before the Tokyo Games began. Pam said she felt an overwhelming sense of pride when her son was added to the Olympic team and added, via The Orange County Register:
“I always tell him, “We don’t care how we got in the door – front door, back door, side door – as long as we get to the table.’” she said in a phone interview with Southern California News Group. “I got cut from several teams before the Pan American team (in 1983) and then the Olympic team. Eventually, people will recognize the work, those hours you’re putting in the gym.”
A gold medal-winning mom and son is absolutely the coolest.
And once JaVale had his Olympic gold medal, he celebrated it and his mom’s achievements with a couple great Instagram posts showing off their hardware.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSRsfqCHRZt
He wrote in one caption:
The originator, the woman who sacrificed, the standard to live up too! LOVE YOU MA!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSRcyYSHAkJ
JaVale McGee, 3× NBA champion (2017, 2018, 2020), 2021 Olympic gold medalist, Basketball.
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@JaValeMcGee
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.jpg) McGee in 2018
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 19, 1988 Flint, Michigan |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) |
| Listed weight | 270 lb (122 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
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| College | Nevada (2006–2008) |
| NBA draft | 2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 18th overall |
| Selected by the Washington Wizards | |
| Playing career | 2008–present |
| Position | Center |
| Career history | |
| 2008–2012 | Washington Wizards |
| 2012–2015 | Denver Nuggets |
| 2015 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 2015–2016 | Dallas Mavericks |
| 2016–2018 | Golden State Warriors |
| 2018–2020 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 2020–2021 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 2021 | Denver Nuggets |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Stats  |
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| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
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Medals
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JaVale Lindy McGee (born January 19, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Nevada Wolf Pack. He was selected 18th overall by the Washington Wizards in the 2008 NBA draft. He is a three-time NBA champion, having won consecutive titles with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018 before winning a third title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. The son of Olympic gold medalist Pamela McGee, he won an Olympic gold medal in basketball as a member of the United States national team in 2021.
Pam McGee, 2x NCAA champion (1983, 1984), 3x olympic basketball gold medal winner, 4x medal winner, WABA champion (1984)
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 1, 1962 Flint, Michigan |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Flint Northern (Flint, Michigan) |
| College | USC (1980–1984) |
| WNBA draft | 1997 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall |
| Playing career | 1984–1998 |
| Position | Center / Power forward |
| Number | 30 |
| Career history | |
| 1984 | Dallas Diamonds |
| 1997 | Sacramento Monarchs |
| 1998 | Los Angeles Sparks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame | |
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Medals
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Pamela Denise McGee (born December 1, 1962) is an American retired professional women’s basketball player, 2012 Basketball Hall of Famer, and mother of two professional basketball players. She is the first WNBA mom to have a son and daughter drafted in the NBA and the WNBA. At age 34, she was the second overall pick in the 1997 WNBA Draft. She played in the league for two seasons with the Sacramento Monarchs and Los Angeles Sparks.
McGee grew up in Flint, Michigan, where she attended Flint Southwestern Academy before graduating from Flint Northern High School. At Northern Highschool she was both an Academic All American and won two back to back state championships in Women’s Basketball and Women’s Track. She set the state record in the Shot putt in track and field. She was the MVP of the Parade All American game which hosted the top players in the nation.
McGee won back-to-back NCAA Championships as an All-American at the University of Southern California, where she was a teammate of twin sister Paula, Cynthia Cooper and Cheryl Miller. In 1984, she won Olympic gold in Los Angeles before embarking on a professional career that included stints in Brazil, France, Italy and Spain. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. She has been noted as one of the few women basketball players who has won on every level. 2 State Championships in Michigan with a still standing record of 75-0 wins. She then won 2 National Championships at the University of Southern California in the eighties. That same year she graduated as student-athlete in 4 years with a BA in Economics and Social Science with an emphasis on Finance. That same year she was the first to win a Gold-Medal at the LA Olympics in Women’s Basketball. She then won World Championships in Barcelona Spain, Brazilian World Championships, and the European Ronchetti Cup with 4-time WNBA MVP Cynthia Cooper. She culminated her career as a coach by winning the 2003 WNBA championship with Bill Liambeer as the Head Coach.
McGee has once again made history when both her son and daughter were drafted in the NBA and WNBA. Her son JaVale has won three NBA championships, two with the Golden State Warriors, and one with the Los Angeles Lakers. She is the first WNBA mom who has a son and daughter drafted in the NBA and the WNBA. JaVale was the 18th pick in the 2008 NBA draft and Imani was the 10th pick in the 2016 draft, making her the first WNBA mom to have a son and daughter playing American Professional Basketball. Recently, JaVale is the starting Center with the NBA Los Angeles, Lakers and Imani plays for the WNBA Dallas Wings. Imani attends Southwestern Law School as she suspended her Basketball Career during COVID 19. The entertainment world has seen the McGee Family in the reality Show, MOM”S GOT GAME. HBO produced the documentary “Women of Troy” that illuminated the trailblazing team of the Championship Lady Trojans. In 2021, she once again made history when Javale won an Olympic gold medal for USA Basketball, making them the first mother-and-son duo in the world to win Olympic gold.
Personal life
McGee has a daughter, current WNBL player Imani McGee-Stafford and a son, NBA player and NBA champion JaVale McGee, currently with the Phoenix Suns. McGee is the first WNBA player to have a child play in the NBA and WNBA. In 2012, she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. She lives in Annandale, Virginia.
The consecutive NCAA championships followed two Michigan state championships at Flint Northern High School. Besides playing in France, Italy and Brazil, she was drafted #2 at 34 years old, into the WNBA. She starred for the Los Angeles Sparks and Sacramento Monarchs.
JaVale McGee is the first son of a WNBA player to ever play in the NBA. McGee’s husband George Montgomery was drafted to the NBA with the 35th pick in the 1985 NBA draft although he never played there.[15] McGee, with a degree in economics, balanced her international basketball career with raising both children, home schooling, coaching and teaching school in the off season, though the formidable tasks were not without controversy.
Pamela McGee WNBA Stats
Twitter: PamelaMcGee34 ▪ Instagram: pamelamcgee
Position: Forward-Center
6-3, 180lb (190cm, 81kg)
Born: December 1, 1962 (Age: 58-250d) in Flint, Michigan us
Relatives: Daughter Imani McGee-Stafford
College: USC
Draft: Sacramento Monarchs, 1st round (2nd pick, 2nd overall), 1997 Draft
