Jeff Teague quietly fizzled out of the NBA following his short-lived run in a Boston Celtics uniform in 2021.
In fact, Teague lasted just 21 games plus a victorious NBA Finals run with Milwaukee Bucks after being traded by the Celtics and waived by the Orlando Magic. But
after averaging his lowest career average (6.7 points) since his rookie year in 2009, Teague chose to walk away from basketball entirely, sharing why — well, in this
case, who — played a factor in that decision.
“(De’Aaron Fox) and Darius Garland he retired me,” Teague admitted during an appearance on the “Club 520 Podcast.” “… Fox made me wanna go to the bench. I
was like, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to come off the bench, man.’ He was running so fast one game. … My knees still suffering from them changing directions.”
Teague added: “I remember I dunked on (Fox). … And I said, ‘Damn.’ But after that, he tried to kill me.”
The now-35-year-old, who lasted 14 seasons in the NBA, is no expectation to struggle to keep up with Fox’s speed or Garland’s lights-out shooting. Both All-Star
guards averaged 20-plus points last season for the Sacramento Kings and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively.
Despite an overall solid career, Teague never meshed with the Celtics after Boston brought him aboard as a depth enhancement to play off the bench.
Teague averaged just 6.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists while playing 18.9 minutes in 34 games with the C’s. After scoring 19 points on Opening Night that
season, Teague didn’t match or exceed that total in 31 straight games, shooting 36.4% from the floor and averaging 1.1 turnovers in the stretch.
Nevertheless, winning a championship during his final NBA game should leave Teague plenty satisfied as he enjoys retirement.
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Kristaps Porzingis Injury Update Ahead of FIBA World Cup
Boston’s recent signing Kristaps Porzingis is said to be dealing with an injury that could keep him out of the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
The Celtics will reportedly have a major say in whether the big man will participate in the tournament with Latvia, Rupert Fabig of Hamburger Abendblatt reports.
“Exclusive: According to my information, there are growing concerns that Latvia star Kristaps #Porzingis might miss the #FIBAWC due to injury,” Fabig
tweeted. “Understood it is something with his foot. Staff, himself and Boston #Celtics will wait until the last moment to make a decision.”
However, when a fan on twitter questioned Fabig’s tweet he clarified further by replying with, “Understood it’s at least nothing too serious because they are still
discussing the option of him playing the World Cup.”
This is semi-good news at least for C’s fans, because they definitely wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened to Danilo Gallinari.
Gallinari his left ACL while playing for Italy during a FIBA World Cup qualifier in September of 2022, which caused him to miss the entire 2022-23 season.
Earlier in the summer, Porzingis was part of a blockbuster three-team trade and has since agreed to a two-year contract extension reportedly worth about $60 million.
The 7-foot-3 center hasn’t had the easiest of careers due to injury troubles and has been to three different teams since 2019 when he was traded to Dallas from New York.
But the Celtics represent a new start for the almost-28-year-old, who is coming off arguably the best season of his career where he averaged 23.2 points per game, 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks with the Wizards.
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