by Flint Journal

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While he did not go to high school here, Flint can still claim JaVale McGee of the Washington Wizards as another player in its rich basketball history.

McGee, a first round pick of the Wizards last season, was back in town putting on a camp at the Genesee Valley Tennis Center, that began on Thursday.

"I've just always wanted to do a camp, you know," McGee said. "It just all worked out good here."

McGee is the son of Pam McGee, a Flint Northern grad who went on to win two NCAA championships at USC, win an Olympic gold medal in 1984 and play two seasons in the WNBA for the Sacramento Monarchs and LA Sparks.

JaVale McGee's dad, George Montgomery, was a second round draft pick of the Portland Trailblazers in 1985.

JaVale McGee lived in Flint when he was young, and went to high school at Detroit Country Day before moving out of state. He played two years of college basketball at Nevada.

"I was born into it (basketball), and I was always tall, so I was always around it," JaVale McGee said.

McGee worked with kids of all ages at the camp on fundamentals, stressing the fact that those who want to make basketball a career need to put in the work.

"As long as they work hard and try to be the best at everything they do, they can make it wherever they wanna make it," he said. "You know, if they wanna be in the NBA, I tell them to take it seriously in the gym and in school, then they can get there."

As a rookie, the 7-foot McGee averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game for the Wizards. The team recently traded big men Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov to the Timberwolves for guards Randy Foye and Mike Miller, so McGee could see more time in his second season, although he's keeping his goals simple.

"Just some good playing, getting some wins," he said.

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