Drafted 19th overall by the Hawks in the 2009 NBA draft, Jeff Teague spent seven seasons in Atlanta, earning an All-Star selection with the team as well. However, during his second stint with the Hawks in 2020, Teague revealed what led to his short stay with the team that drafted him.
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While on the 520 Podcast, Jeff Teague revealed how his former head coach Llyod Pierce told him that he would be playing limited minutes on the floor, an instruction that came directly from the team’s management.
“I ain’t gon’ lie, I f**k with Llyod Pierce, he was cool but that ni**a came to me the first day, he said, ‘Look, it ain’t me, it’s upper management. You only gon’ play 18 minutes, I don’t care if you have a good game, bad game, get yo sh*t off.’ And then walked off.”
“I said, ‘So, it don’t matter what I do? You only get 18 minutes.’ It don’t matter what you do, you only get 18 minutes. You can play the best, you can have 30 points in that 18 minutes, sh*t you only getting 18, don’t worry about it. I said, ‘Ain’t that a bi**h.’”
Finding out he would only be on the floor for 18 minutes surprised Jeff Teague. After his first stint in Atlanta, Teague bounced around the league, having played for the Indiana Pacers and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
However, Teague did not fit in much and decided to return to the Hawks. However, this time, the Hawks had found their star point guard in Trae Young. Jeff Teague also mentioned how he started a game with Young in the backcourt.
Teague had 14 points in the first half of the game but as soon as the 18-minute mark came, he was pulled out of the game, and that eventually led him to move on from the Hawks and join the Boston Celtics squad.
Jeff Teague reveals what led to his initial departure from the Hawks
If getting limited minutes was the reason why Jeff Teague left the Atlanta Hawks during his second stint with the team, then this hilarious story of what transpired during his last year with the Hawks during his first stint is sure to make anyone laugh.
Teague mentioned how he was talking to the press and it went longer than usual. He went back to the locker room, grabbed a pizza and as he walked toward the team bus, a guard revealed that the team bus had already left without him. That is when Jeff Teague realized he was dispensible to the Hawks organization, making that year his last with the team.
