PORTLAND — After the Golden State Warriors’ optional practice here on Sunday morning, assistant coach Mike Brown took a seat in the locker room next to Kevin Durant to chat and watch some game film. It had been a long weekend, with Brown moving up to the head of the Warriors’ bench due to coach Steve Kerr’s absence, and Durant missing his second straight playoff game with a calf injury. Not to mention, the Warriors still needed one more win to finish off the Portland Trail Blazers in their first-round series.

“All of a sudden, I hear this singing from the shower,” Brown said, laughing. “And it’s not like a little, ‘Ohh ahh.’ I mean, it is loud! I turn to KD and I’m like, ‘KD, is he always like this?’ And KD smiles and goes, ‘Yeah, that dude is nuts.’”

The singing dude was JaVale McGee, the center who has gone from the verge of being out of league before the Warriors brought him into training camp to a legitimate standout for Golden State against the Blazers.

He’s a silly guy and doesn’t take himself too seriously, as evidenced by his singing and that rat-tail hairstyle that he keeps “just so people can keep talking to me about it.” Off the court, he pranks his teammates by printing up blankets that feature Draymond Green’s face, open-mouthed, deep in sleep.

When it comes to his game, though, McGee has just put his head down and done the work. He doesn’t display over-the-top celebrations after some of his craziest dunks. He sticks to a vegan diet, and over the summer, he was in the gym everyday, often by himself, working on his strength and stamina.

“I was doing conditioning every day,” McGee said. “I was going the hardest I ever went, to tell you the truth. I was lifting, gym, conditioning, weight room, every day, by myself. Like, most people, when they work out, they’re with two or three people. I was there by myself with my trainer.”

It is paying off. McGee is making the most of his first extended postseason action since 2013, averaging 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in just 13 minutes per game through Golden State’s first three games. The Warriors have outscored the Blazers by 51 points in 39 minutes with the 7-footer on the floor through three games — the highest plus-minus on the team — and have been outscored by four points in the 105 minutes he’s been on the bench.

The ultra-athletic former Slam Dunk Contest participant is finding many ways to thrive with Golden State, from familiar feats like catching lobs for alley-oop dunks to more recently developed talents like playing disruptive pick-and-roll defense. McGee says that he feels that the Warriors are playing him the way he was supposed to play, and the way he was used in Denver: catching alley-oops and being in the paint.

The combination has him looking at home on the court … and, apparently, feeling comfortable enough to belt out songs in the locker room.

“This is a great system [for him]. It fits his skillset,” veteran Warriors forward David West said. “But we are just asking him to be solid defensively. I mean, obviously, he provides an element above the rim … I think just the environment is good for him. The types of guys he has around him are just keeping him confident and under control. And he’s able to take advantage of it.”

McGee has grown comfortable enough to be himself with his teammates and even the media covering him. After a December win over the New York Knicks, he showed up to the podium sporting Snapchat Spectacles and snacking on a cookie, and told media members that he was turning the tables and recording them instead.

Some of that looseness and comfort probably stems from his success on the court during a season that has seen him begin developing a new reputation as a valuable rim-running finisher and increasingly savvy defender for Golden State. McGee hasn’t always been seen that way.

Back when “Shaqtin’ a Fool,” Shaquille O’Neal’s comedy segment on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” broadcast, was just taking off, McGee was its unwitting star. It wasn’t long before the segment seemed to consist of clip after clip of McGee bloopers. That reputation started to follow him, and those bloopers led O’Neal to repeatedly mock him on national television, which has resulted in quite a few unkind words passing between the two big men over the past year.

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