In 2014, the Los Angeles Lakers were trying to build a good team around the late, great Kobe Bryant, who was in the last stretch of his career. Looking for some good pieces to help him, Kobe instructed the front office to try and sign Jeff Teague to the franchise. However, to Kobe’s surprise, Teague refused to come to LA to join the Lakers.
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The then-Atlanta Hawks player had a few valid reasons to refuse the offer. However, Kobe still resented him for rejecting the offer. During a recent appearance on an episode of Gil’s Arena, Teague revealed what Kobe said to him when they met on the court after the failed trade attempt.
The 36-year-old explained that when the Lakers first reached out to him, he knew that he wasn’t going to sign with them. Citing the heavy taxation in LA as the chief reason behind it, Teague immediately declined the opportunity to team up with Kobe. The expensive lifestyle in California also influenced his decision.
However, after the failed Jeff Teague trade, the Lakers had to sign somebody and that’s how Kobe ended up with Jeremy Lin as his teammate. The Mamba apparently wasn’t very happy with this alternative.
Therefore, when he met Teague on the court for the first time that season, he let him know exactly that. “We played him [Kobe], he had Jeremy Lin. In the middle of the game, he was like, ‘You left me out here with this sh*t…I told them to go and get you. Were you scared?'” Teague recalled his experience during the fated Hawks-Lakers game.
“I was just looking at him [Kobe] like, ‘Damn! I didn’t even know you knew my name'” he added. The 2021 NBA Champion had no idea that Kobe himself was pushing for that trade.
After that interaction, Teague went to his bench to tell his teammates about what Kobe just told him.
During the same podcast appearance, the All-Star also revealed that even though he was a fan of Kobe and acknowledges his greatness, Teague didn’t like watching the Mamba in action.
Jeff Teague explains why he didn’t like watching Kobe Bryant play
While the whole world still watches Kobe’s highlights, Teague didn’t like to watch him play.
He said that Kobe’s style of playing was very raw and sometimes rough around the edges, which is the opposite to the aesthetic game that Teague likes to watch.
He said, “I never liked watching Kobe play, he just wasn’t my type. He was cold, I know he was a killer but I ain’t never like watching him play. He was trying too hard, it didn’t come like easy, like he scored easy, but all his moves was like [makes grunting noise].”
In his opinion, players like Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant play a much smoother game than the Mamba and that’s why he prefers to watch them play instead of the Lakers legend.
