Golden State Warriors 2013-14 Player Grades: Jermaine O’Neal

Overview:

The Golden State Warriors’ season came to a disappointing end, complete with a first-round playoff exit and the firing of head coach Mark Jackson. But this 51-win team still had a good year, so it’s time to take a look back on the 2013-14 season and evaluate how everyone performed. We’ve already taken a look at backup point guard Steve Blake, defensive anchor Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes‘ disappointing sophomore campaign, Jordan Crawford‘s disappointing production off the bench and Marreese Speight’s average year. Today, we look at Jermaine O’Neal.

In this 18th season in the NBA, O’Neal’s prime Indiana Pacers days were obviously long behind him. But this veteran with attitude still had plenty to offer the Dubs this year and was easily one of the league’s finest backup centers in 2013-14. Bringing defensive intensity, rim protection and decent interior production off the bench, O’Neal gave the Warriors what he could and did a good job making up for the absence of backup rim protector Festus Ezeli. Here’s an in-depth look at his lone season in Golden State.