Jeff Teague spent a decade-plus carving out a reputation as a steady, winning point guard, but one stop on his NBA journey still sticks in his throat.
The former All-Star turned podcaster looked back on a chapter of his playing days and didn’t hold anything back, pinning the downturn of his career on a single franchise.
Why Former All-Star Jeff Teague Says the Timberwolves Ruined His Career
Teague’s words were blunt, and his regret was palpable. The bitterness behind the stretch back to a free-agency decision is still fresh in his mouth.
“That s*** was terrible,” Teague said of his Minnesota Timberwolves stint. “We had that first year. After that, we were some s***… That first year was fun. Then Jimmy that second year… wow, they ruined my career.”
He went a step further, adding, “I shouldn’t have went there,” and at one point pleaded, “Hope somebody come save me.”
When he was asked about how exactly the franchise wrecked things for Teague, he said, “I made it to the playoffs every year before that.”
He continued, “Got there. Made it to the playoffs. In my second year we was the worst team in the league. One of them. And then, once you’re on a bad team, and you’re a little older, and you don’t get traded to a playoff team, they trade you to another bad team. It just started going downhill.”
Teague reached the postseason in each of his first seven seasons with the Atlanta Hawks and again with the Pacers in 2017 before signing a three-year, $57 million deal with Minnesota.
He has long maintained he never wanted to go to the Timberwolves and that Indiana was his preferred destination. But the Pacers weren’t interested in continuing their collaboration with him, leaving Minnesota as his only lucrative option.
Teague’s first season with the Timberwolves delivered as Minnesota ended a 14-year playoff drought by winning 47 games in 2017-18, clinching the eighth seed.
They reached so far only to be bounced off their path by the Houston Rockets in the first round, who won the series 4-1.
It all went downhill from there for Teague.
By 2019-20, Minnesota cratered down to a 19-45 record (14th in the West), and Teague was shipped to Atlanta that January in exchange for Allen Crabbe.
Teague was out of the league at 32 after the 2020-21 season, after winning a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Since then, Teague has built a second act, turning “Club 520” into one of the most popular shows in basketball. He even took on the role of a head coach at Pike High School in Indianapolis, his alma mater.
