Apart from his early 2000s dominant duo with Shaquille O’Neal, one of Kobe Bryant’s best teammates was arguably Pau Gasol, a key figure in the Mamba’s later championship victories. Jeff Teague, however, doesn’t believe the 2009–2010 Lakers team that included Gasol deserves too much praise, and the words he chose were, perhaps, a bit harsh.
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Teague was ranking the best championship teams from the 2000s and 2010s on the Club 520 podcast, where he ranked the 09-10 Lakers as one of his least favorites. But calling them trash? Come on.
Teague’s choice of words was blunt, but his intent wasn’t to discredit Bryant. Instead, he aimed to highlight just how impressive those title wins were, given the roster Kobe had around him. Teague explained that he usually avoids commenting on Kobe out of respect, but in this case, he felt compelled to be honest.
Teague, a former NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks, simply didn’t think those Lakers teams were stacked or deep enough to be considered memorable. Outside of Kobe and Pau Gasol, he didn’t see much talent worth highlighting. The bench lacked strength, and the supporting cast didn’t have the kind of firepower that defined other championship teams of that era.
That said, Teague and his co-hosts didn’t shy away from praising Kobe. Bishop, one of the co-hosts, emphasized that, “Kobe has the hardest championships ever…To win with that team…That Kobe team, they beat that Celtics team with all them top dogs on there, bro. Y’all got Kobe f***ed up, bro.”
“To go back to back…that’s the worst roster to ever go back to back,” Bishop added. Teague agreed with his assessment and said, “That team a**.” The podcast crew then listed out some of the names from the roster and claimed that they became irrelevant the moment they left the Lakers.
The 2009 Lakers team won 65 games in the regular season, and the 2010 squad followed up with 57. Both teams reached the NBA Finals and came away with championships, with Kobe earning Finals MVP honors each time. That stretch also included three consecutive Finals appearances, beginning in 2008. The Lakers were the top seed in the West in all three of those seasons.
Looking back at the rosters, it’s easy to see why Teague wasn’t overly impressed. Beyond Kobe and Gasol, the rotation featured Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum, Ron Artest, and Sasha Vujacic. While several were valuable role players, none were perennial All-Stars or dominant forces. But that’s exactly the point Teague was making. Kobe didn’t have a superteam, and he still won.
In the end, the conversation wasn’t about tearing down Kobe’s legacy. If anything, it amplified it. Winning back-to-back titles with what Teague described as a weak supporting cast only solidified Bryant’s greatness.
