Several years after retiring, Jeff Teague retries the NBA Combine
Everything I have seen and heard from Jeff Teague post career tells me he 100% was not trying during his original combine.
Don’t worry I can assure you he was 100% not trying during large parts of his nba career as well.
Can’t blame any T-Wolves fans for being salty about Teague, he clearly did not gaf during majority of his run with y’all
Getting burned out is real. Just making it to the NBA is amazing in itself
Hes said on his pod he didnt ever think he was going to the league until late in college i think
And that once he got an All Star nod he felt like he didn’t have to prove anything anymore
And then he won a championship too
Got an A on the group assignment.
Then drove all the way back home to Indianapolis that same night to play 2k with his homies because Milwaukee and the after party was so boring lmao.
I don’t know why but dude is hilarious.
I get that but man even the awful little baby dunks I could still pull off when I was 30 was one of the best feelings in the world. If I could like 360 and throw down with ease I just don’t see ever getting bored of that feeling.
But did you play high level? Burn out is real and there’s folks who get it and don’t
Yeah, when my coaches tried to get the most out of my talent, I burned out so fucking fast. I still ended up playing at a decently high level, but only after taking a break for a couple of years and by not trying to reach the highest I could go. I am never going to rag on NBA players taking it easy.
It’s a very specific mindset that the absolute best have to have. I did not have it and I guarantee most people who think they do, do not have it either. Most people would burn out really fast when a game they love turns into an insanely repetitive and meticulous grind.
My wake-up for this was Jazz school. I went to a pretty high profile music university here in the south for guitar, and I just wasn’t prepared for how much they try to pull out of you. I worked hard to get in, and I guess in my mind I thought it would be fun to play music all the time once I got good enough to get accepted.
I was expected to play guitar for around 6 hours a day outside of class, plus whatever time spent during lessons and ensemble.
Most of my fellow classmates spent all day on campus playing jazz music together. They did basically nothing else, all day.
It wasn’t for me. I liked music, but when you’re expected to spend all of your time doing something it stops becoming fun and feels like a chore.
I ended up switching majors very early.
You were smarter and more mature than I was, haha. It took me longer to realize that this kind of lifestyle just wasn’t for me. After I burned from basketball and stopped playing, I looked for my competitive fix elsewhere and got really into competitive gaming. The stress of live tournaments and the intense lifestyle ultimately got to me too.
It’s only after I quit playing and got a bit older that I realized that I am just not made for that stuff. I need a quiet life without too much pressure or responsibilities. I am simply not made for high level competition. I need peace and quiet and a modest life.
Honestly, being content with a modest life and simple things rather than chasing a high in whatever discipline is a skill I highly value in life and one that took me years to learn, but I am much healthier and happier with that kind of life.
I still don’t like him, it’s clear he didn’t gaf yet he still has the audacity to talk so much shit
Screaming for D. Rose in his ear will do that
Nah he agreed with that, even offered to step down for him to Thibs
I’m sure he did, but he wouldn’t even have considered it had the crowd and KG not been screaming at him every game.
If there wasn’t a shot clock he’d be dribbling still
He’d keep dribbling and then throw a fuckass entry pass
He was class in Atlanta 🤷
Part of that “wtf where did that come from” 1 seed 2015 team
That year 4/5ths of the Hawks starters made the Allstar team.
Thats gotta be the only team to do that, right?
Edit: it was not the only team to do that.
Warriors Breh
Oh yeah, Draymond was still making those when KD first came over, huh?
Well yeah he was the 3rd most important player to that team, over Klay
04 or 05 Pistons as well I believe?
Pretty sure it was 06
Celtics did it a few years before that with their big three and Rondo. It’s actually happened nine times.
Pistons did it in 06 I believe
Yup. They had 22 on their shoes cuz Tayshaun didn’t make it, if I remember correctly.
Yep. And if we’re being honest Tay should have made it
1976 ABA All Star Game - it was the Nuggets vs the best of everyone else.
Pretty sure the Celtics did it as well
On top of the teams already mentioned, the 97-98 Lakers had 4 all stars: Shaq, Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, and Kobe.
Shaq and Kobe were voted as starters.
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idk
Right, which was why it was so confusing
He talked about it on the podcast. He claims that he played Bud Ball for so long in Atlanta that he kinda forgot how to just play ball and get his own shit.
When he got to Minny, Thibs basically told him to go cook and he had trouble adjusting back to that.
It’s so funny seeing T-Wolves fans hate Teague lmao
I don’t think a majority hate him. Thibs era sucked then and sucks in hindsight. Love his podcast though.
Real
Actually hilarious 😂
Why?
Because nobody else hates Teague and his podcast is hilarious lol
Well he was certified ASS on the court, that’s the only reason we hate him lol
Nah I get it, it’s just y’all are the only ones with a reason to hate him😂
He was ass in Boston too, but it didn’t actually matter at that point, so he’s not disliked there.
Nah man that half a season he was in Boston I despised him lmao he’s a good dude but I hated having him on my team
You despised a guy who played 34 games for y’all? Boston fans really are different lmao
Man he was AWFUL and I remember him costing us like 3 wins
Fair I guess, he really didn’t give af later in his career lol
does anyone else feel like players can’t get away with being super lazy nowadays the way they used to? feels like the bar for effort in general and good team basketball is higher now. like that cam dude who was on the nets (now bucks?) and is undeniably a talented scorer but barely gets minutes even on bad teams because he doesn’t play good team ball. seems like even the worst teams nowadays don’t want to bother giving you minutes if you’re not trying to play the right way.
just a thought i had. lmk if i’m wrong and if there are still some absolute cardio guys playing today.
it’s funny seeing all mavs fans hate rondo
I mean he actively quit on our team in the playoffs and was supposed to be a major piece to a team that was still contending with Dirk. The entire team voted to not give him his playoff check as well lmao. Even with all that, I still don’t hate Rondo😂
There are a lot of players our fan base hates for little to no reason.
That’s the problem
Ball knower
“THATS THE PROBLEM!!
That is a lot of people who go through the NBA, to be fair
Someone should check if Teague can make an entry pass now
Big if true
Yeah, dude was mentally only half there half the time.
The way the Rubio bobos treated him, can’t blame him. You guys were aholes.
That’s weird though because it’s the one time everyone tries, because you can make a lot of money
Maybe he wasn’t focused, or like didn’t train for the drills — 19⁄20 year old pure athleticism doesn’t always translate to the 4 corner thing or even a short sprint
Didn’t Naz Reid end up undrafted due to showing up fat at the combine?
I just went down a rabbit hole of NBA body fat percentages because of that comment. I found out that the NBA uses shitty measuring tools for bf percentage and all of the nba teams lie about their players body fat percentage.
They claim the NBA players have an average body fat percentage between 6%-10%. 6% body fat is what bodybuilders get down to for a show. No one is playing a elite level game of basketball at 6% body fat.
This has always annoyed me as well. literally nobody in the NBA has their listed body fat, it’s always some impossible number.
well, can’t win em all, haha
but it’s not that he showed up fat to the combine, per se, it’s that he was just fat in college
Complacency once becoming pro is a very common. Bag secured and can say you made it. For some, that’s enough. Financially, I can’t blame them.
Ben Simmons /thread
Ben Simmons had a major back injury and some horrific off court stuff in his inner circle. It’s far more complicated than “no longer cared”
This is definitely ayton
That’s the problem!
This is wildly impressive
It’s kinda cool to see him just revert to being a knockdown shooter halfway through the shooting drill
Teague’s shot still wet af tbh - just goes to show how much muscle memory impacts technique even when your aren’t actively utilizing it anymore (i.e. “just like riding a bike”)
He’s an AAU coach I think? Or a high school coach? Surely he takes a few shots here and there during practices. Or some kid comes up and says I’m better than you and suddenly he gotta step up and knock their confidence down a peg.
Oh I’m not saying he never shoots at all anymore…but that said, safe to say he’s not doing that combine drill too frequently either, if ever lol
I think he said in the video he hadn’t shot in a while. Who knows how long that means for nba players though
Pike High School in Indianapolis
Having JT as a high school coach would be SO LEGENDARY lol imagine the behind the scenes stories he’d bust out 😂
You should listen to the 520 podcast, he talks about it once in a while.
A memorable one is when he talks about kids coming up to him saying yeah I’m better than you. And then Teague would reply I was an all-star and you ain’t even gonna sniff the league. It’s hilarious.
I mean, they’re NBA players, they WILL make shots. I bet even Ben Simmons can make like 45⁄50 3pointers in practice, let that sink in
Levels to this shit man lol
You could see him slowly adjusting to every shot and eventually he just starts knocking down everything
There are levels to this
Right? The results are kind of unsurprising when you consider he is still in shape AND had a decade in the league training like an NBA player instead of an amateur (even if college was more regimented). Impressive either way
Even clips of him and his brother playing pick-up games recently. I know the defense being played isn’t the best, but Jeff can still do some wildly impressive things on the court offensively. Just shows me how many levels there are to hoopers.
Oh my God you just reminded me that Marquis exists and triggered my PTSD
Jeff - “What kinda bullshit was I doing 17 years ago? Get in the gym youngin’.” 😂
This is fun content. I’d like to see other vets do something like this, retired or otherwise. Like I wonder what LeBrons numbers would look like now compared to him as a rookie, and then how that compares to the average player coming into the league today.
Bron didn’t even do the combine. He was consensus number 1.
He should do it undercover. Though I have no idea what kind of disguise could convince people he’s someone else.
Have you seen the movie White Chicks?
That was lebron? Damn.
This got an audible cackle out of me, well done
Have we ever seen Caitlin Clark and LeBron in the same room?
Blaze pizza uniform
He could disguise himself as Bryce
Run B Hen through the combine!
Players should have to do this every time they’re free agents
I hated this guy when he played because it felt like he was just clunky and not as good as he could be.
After retiring, it became pretty clear that the guy was just trolling and is actually one of the most entertaining dudes in basketball.
He’s hilarious on his podcast. That shit got me dying
https://youtube.com/shorts/iyouU66E3YQ?si=vSEbpZQ8ba46XcmY
Clunky? He was fast as shit. For a few years Atl had a Teague/Schroder point guard rotation that was hell on ice
Right? Clunky is not the word I’d use to describe Teague
Not to mention he was built. Him and Eric Bledsoe back then were built like running backs. And he had lowkey bounce. Like a slightly less athletic Russel Westbrook.
Teague may not have been the fastest player in the league but I swear when I watched him he looked like the fastest player.
He was sooo good if you developed him in 2k16/17 though lol
My guy JET
“Who tf is JET? The man can’t get his own initials?”
“He’s OLDER than Jason Tatum”
Lmfaooo I understood this reference
Jeff BUCKS LEGEND Teague
Outside of injuries, which he alludes to with his knee cartilage, most amateur and professional athletes lose motivation and drive much more quickly than the physical ability. Though then you can easily say that mental stamina is an attribute.
A Formula 1 driver said, I cannon remember who, your reflexes are fine when you retire. What goes is your ability and desire to fly across 3-20 time zones 8 months a year while taking life threatening risks for hours at a time.
All while studying, training, doing media.
One day a professional athlete looks at their assets, the increased work it takes to be in shape, media obligations, their other interests and the reality of spending 20-35 years doing the same thing every day.
I think it was Cris Carter, former NFL wide receiver, who said something to the effect of, sure he could go out and light it up for one game. Just one game though - he’d be absolutely wrecked afterward, and a full season is absolutely out of the question
Reggie Miller said something similar in the Open Court days as well
Vince Carter said the same when he was finally retiring. The issue is not performing in one game, but the recovery time needed
This sounds like a LeBron goat argument. But honestly it is true. LeBron is a billionaire and hes still busting ass at 42 to try to win another ring.
dude just loves hustling to form a superteam lol, can’t take away that kind of passion i guess :)
(ouch, can’t even joke about the truth with this guy, y’all are sickos lol)
the salty edit with 1 downvote lol
not salty at all, literally being playful lol :) and it was -3 like one minute after i posted it lol, things fluctuate…. (shows -2 right meow)
“ah hahaaa he sucks because of this tired point that doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny” does not come off as playful to anyone with even a modicum of social skills
brah, the comment i replied too is just creepy glazing of a billionaire old man lol, sorry for taking the piss slightly, how dare I lol. i didn’t say anthing about him sucking at all…… y’all just can’t read lol, oof
people actually still talking about goat shit….. yeah, i’ll take my modicum of social skills over that and this sensitive shit :)
Dude he beat the 73-9 Warriors down 3-1. He brought a ring to Cleveland. The “ring chasing super team” argument has been dead for a decade
?? how can something that happened multiple times be dead?
basketball is a team game, y’all sound like WWE fans lol, or super hero fans. he won with a superteam….. every time his team won…. facts are facts. still an alltime great, but the context exists forever :)
Mike never won without Scottie. Magic never won without Kareem. Kobe never won without Shaq or Pau. Ya dude, you cant win it with a bunch of scrubs. Getting to his first finals with a bunch of losers is impressive as fuck.
?? yes, team basketball requires context, and only teams win championships.
that same context is that bron has manipulated his team situation to load up with multiple other top 5-10-15 level guys in the league multiple times, which is the only thing I commented on :)
Stop being such a hater. You were lucky enough to witness one of the best to ever do it. Stop hating and appreciate greatness. You probably wont see another one greater than him in your life.
none of this is hating :) stop being so sensitive. dude created multiple superteams, how dare i mention it, oh no!
I brought up LeBron and the goat conversation and you commented about him creating super teams. And I can only assume that means youre saying thats a bad thing. So ya your a fucking hater. Just own it.
You actually do lose athleticism in your mid-30s but it’s really not that much, maybe 3-5%. For most NBA players that aren’t KD, Steph, or LeBron that’s enough to be out of the league. For regular people you’d barely notice the difference. Now by 45 you lose another 10-15% and then it really adds up. I would be absolutely shocked if LeBron (or either of the other two) are still playing at 45. That’d be the real feat.
agreed and nba they are all paid quite well relative to the average civilian. like a rookie contract pays you 1-2mm/year lol. that’s what a top surgeon makes.
bein in your 20’s a millionaire, atheltic. alot of distractions- women will throw themselves at you if they know youare in the nba
plus if you aren’t on a real contender, and even without like a major injury all these guys are dealing with wear and tear on their bodies
a lot of people would check out
“Standing still, that’s what I can do.”
He just like me, fr fr
How does his standing vertical improve??
newly retired players always say that they can still do things but the problem is that everything hurts and it takes longer to recover
Going up isn’t the issue.
LANDING IS THE PROBLEM
Oh lord does this speak to me
also they cant do it all game long without rest. Kind of like when lebron has a random that makes him look 22 again but then he disappears for the next 10 minutes
Seriously, can’t imagine trying to play an 82 game season with all of that travel after about 29.
In the video he says he can still play but it’s got to be half court because he can’t keep up with all the running. There’s so much insane cardio to the nba
I remember Steve Nash near the end saying he can play once a week at a high level, but he couldn’t do three games a week, and that’s when he knew he had to retire even though he felt great when working out or whatever.
This is what I tell the young cats I work with.
I can still do everything you can on any given day and I can do it better.
What I can’t do is have a life outside of here and expect to this shit for six months straight. I either need to take it easy during the week or sit in bed all weekend.
Recovery is always the bitch.
Drinking too. I’ve actually learned to enjoy the taste of good whiskey as I’ve gotten older and have the money to buy it too. My body won’t just cooperate :D
Youth is really wasted on the young
I’m older than Jeff, you can still do this stuff. The difference between now and when you were 19 or 20 is that at 20, you would follow this up by going out till 2 AM then working out all day the next day. Now you follow this up with chamomile tea, ice packs, and a day of rest.
And then mentally you have to push through all that just to try your hardest to be only less good than you used to be, rather than way less good.
He didn’t look like he was trying to reach overhead at all when measuring the standing reach
It’s largely a core exercise, and that’s mostly what old man strength comes from. Still weird tho
“It’s largely a core exercise, and that’s mostly what old man strength comes from.”
What the fuck are you on..?
You need TONS of leg strength obviously, but the explosiveness to really get your vert up comes from the core and ass. And leg strength doesn’t really go away unless you spend time on crutches.
I never knew that
That comment is not true. Core is not the dominant factor in a standing vertical test. Comes down to your muscle fiber type to produce explosive movement quickly.
It is absolutely crucial to a vertical jump. Obviously you need the leg strength, but that doesn’t go away for literal decades for an athlete without injuries.
Here’s a source for how important it is. Leg strength is a given for these guys.
Yes it is important, to any athletic fete. But not the most Important for vertical. You could have the strongest core ever but if your legs have no explosion it means nothing.
He said he still lifts a lot of weights, which is great for standing vert.
For these kinds of fairly controlled 1 full effort rep things, you can hold on for a long time. Its doing it off of any angle in real time a bunch of times a game after no days rest that age really stops you from keeping up with the younguns.
Im still playing flag football at a decent rec level at 38, and I bet in a lot of measureables im similar to me 10 years ago (partially because I work out more now), and overall im a better/smarter player now, but some of the off-cadence cuts and real-time adjustments my knees and ankles are just like “nah”. Like if i have 2 steps to set something up im good but I used to just do it off zero steps no problem.
NBA training vs amateur training
It’s not surprising as many have pointed out. Strength training will enhance standing vertical jump and straight line short sprints (sub 30m). That’s why olympic lifters and powerlifters can do this amazingly well. Teague is basically stronger than when he was before.
But on the agility skills you see the difference.
He says he’s been lifting weights after his career ended.
Vertical jumping is 99% muscle strength.
Technique. Lifting weights
Your athleticism doesn’t decline that much in your 30s and even 40s if you take care of yourself. It’s your recovery that goes to absolute shit.
Agree up to about 43-45 then things start to decline fast. I might have lost 5-7% to 40 but now it feels like I’m down 20% at 45+. Sucks.
I just turned 51, you’ve got a steep drop ahead my friend.
That’s not surprising. He’s been working out for 20 years since he was a rookie. What makes players retire isn’t combine testing, it’s playing 60+ games a year
Now that’s an interesting concept. This should be a series.
He did 5 combine drills in the video, 4 of which he did at the combine in 2009. Of those 4 drills he did in 2009, he bested 2 of them now, not 3 of them.
For those who haven’t seen it—Teague’s nastiest dunk in my his entire career IMHO (in college, while at Wake) —
https://youtu.be/uTfwcYgNAN8?si=y-i-4QNTk7H1JHmG
Dude is so charismatic and I dont know what it is.
Man you know what it is. He’s a bucket and humble about it.
This dude could still be a starter. The Lakers could use him
He don’t want to pay those LA/Cali taxes.
Most athletes wanna have an opportunity to play in the best state in the US
Dude turned down an opportunity to play with Kobe lmao
And others just want to pay less taxes, so they prefer Texas, Florida, etc. It’s not like Miami isn’t a fun city for a young, famous, extremely rich athlete to live in.
what lmao
Love Teague and Club 520
This is a pretty good demonstration on how to “cheat” in the vertical test. Anyone that pops a crazy vertical it’s good to compare their reach test to players with similar builds and see if they’re short.
The Pat Connaughton special. No shade, he’s an amazing athlete, but when Pat measured his standing reach at the combine, it was four inches shorter than when he measured at the PIT.
This is cool content, nice. Jeff Teague still got it
Bro bring this clown off the podcast and to a team, he can still hoop
Yall Google the Jeff Teague pizza pic
Imagine half assing your way into an NBA career
Combine results are taken too seriously when comparing athletes, even post retirement, when they could have been widely different after experiencing NBA training. Wish we had something like the All-Star combine, though doubt anyone would take it seriously. I want to know who’s the fastest in the NBA right NOW.
Lol at people thinking he didn’t try for draft that would have changed his life, but he DEFINITELY prepared for this draft for no other purpose than content.
You’re young for a lot longer than you think people. Just do a decent job of looking after yourself.
This bro is a god send.
Jeff played in the Big 3 last season. Not sure if he’s running it back this year but this shows he still has some athleticism and skills.
I love Bleacher Report’s content ngl. This is great.
I love calling him Jeff “the witness” Teague nowadays haha
My man Jet!
Never paid attention to those. In football too
He actually tried in this one!
wut