NBA players have always had a flair for the unexpected. Some, for instance, collect exotic pets.
Mike Miller once had a capuchin monkey. Gilbert Arenas kept blacktip reef sharks in tanks at his Washington home.
In May 2012, JaVale McGee , then with the Denver Nuggets, looked ready to add his own name to that list. One simple tweet sent fans and media alike into a frenzy. The former big man claimed to have adopted a new pet — a platypus.
It started quietly, almost casually. McGee posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying he had "copped a pet platypus." The post included a photo that looked real enough to believe.
Platypuses are odd creatures. Native to eastern Australia, they're semi-aquatic, venomous and rarely kept in captivity. They eat live insects, larvae and shellfish. They need both land and water to survive. Very few private owners could handle that. Furthermore, laws outside Australia make it nearly impossible to own one legally.
That only made the story spread faster. Fans jumped online with jokes, curiosity and disbelief. Some pictured McGee playing with the animal. Others worried about its venom or how it could even be cared for.
There are no surviving reports of anyone actually covering the Michigan native buying the pets. But looking back at the reaction once the prank came to light, it's clear some outlets treated it as real. A few probably fell for it. Those stories have likely vanished since.
Of course, it wouldn't have played out that way if fans and reporters had seen it as a prank from the start. Every detail, after all, had been staged by the three-time NBA champion.
"Media: you guys didn't check your sources before writing the story? All u had to do is go to google images...Smh" McGee later tweeted , poking fun at the journalists who fell for it.
Another tweet read , "I can believe I fooled fans… but reporters?!"
Still, if any player in the league at that time could have pulled off something this absurd, it was JaVAle. On the court, he was unpredictable. A mix of highlight blocks, wild goaltends and self-alley-oops. Off it, the 16-year NBA veteran was quirky and unfiltered.
Journalist Rembert Browne captured it well.
"All of the articles and videos and tweets about JaVale being one of the goofier athletes to ever step foot on the professional hardwood weren't as under the radar as we all thought. We assumed we were talking behind this guy's back, but apparently JaVale has had the Internet this entire time," he wrote for "Grantland."
The setup was perfect. A wild story. A public reaction. And McGee quietly steering the chaos behind the scenes.
As mentioned, McGee's game was like a grab bag. You never knew what you'd get. But this time, the seven-footer was calculated, fully in control.
The stunt was funny, no doubt. Yet it carried a sharper edge.
Javale had shown, almost effortlessly, how easily the media could take the bait. For many outlets, the goal wasn't verification. It was posted first, with a headline that grabbed attention.
"JaVale McGee buys a pet platypus" was just too good to resist. Too bad it simply wasn't true.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
