Jeff Teague opened up on the worst coach he ever had during his NBA career, revealing it was the first coach he had in the league.
Jeff Teague had an admirable NBA career. He played for 12 years, became an All-Star, and won a championship before retiring. However, he had to work hard for his opportunities given he entered an NBA where rookies weren’t given much of a chance to shine on the court.
Teague was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 2009 with the 19th overall pick. Despite being a first-round pick, Teague played 71 games that season with about 10.1 minutes per game. He averaged 3.2 points as a rookie.
The issue that the guard ran into as a rookie was coaching. The Hawks were coached by Mike Woodson from 2004 to 1010. Teague joined the squad during his final season.
While Woodson is a respected coach in basketball circles, Jeff Teague made it abundantly clear that he hated playing for him on the Hawks.
Jeff Teague appeared on the ‘Straight Game’ Podcast with former NBA point guard Mike Bibby. The point guard revealed Woodson was the worst coach he had in his career.
The NBA was a rude awakening for Jeff, who was told by Woodson before training camp that he wouldn’t play as a rookie no matter what he did in practice.
“My worst coach was Woody (Mike Woodson). Before I even got a chance, before training camp started, he told me, ‘It don’t matter what you do, you’re not gonna play son. Not this year. You’re gonna have to sit out.’ I am like, ‘H** nah.’ I’m thinking I’ll change his mind, and that s** didn’t work.”
“Bib (Mike Bibby) used to say, ‘Give the young fella a chance.’ He’d sub out and used to cut his nails on the bench and be like, ‘Give the rook a chance!’ And Wood would be mad like, ‘Come on, man.’ I’d run in there and play two minutes, he’d take me out.”
The fact that Woodson is now coaching in the NCAA surprised Jeff Teague. Unfortunately, it seems his time in the NCAA is coming to an end based on what Jeff hears from people around the program at Indiana University. Woodson has been employed since 2021 and has a 6-8 record this season.
Jeff Teague didn’t appear on this podcast to exclusively trash Mike Woodson’s coaching. He gave flowers to current New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau as the best coach he’s ever had.
He even expressed regret over not joining Thibodeau on the New York Knicks in 2021.
“My favorite coach was Thibs (Tom Thibodeau). He’s super cool. If he ___ with you, you got a job forever. Where I messed up was that I played for him in Minnesota.
“When I became a free agent, he called me. I went to Boston instead of New York. But he called me and said, ‘I’ll give you whatever Boston is offering.’ I told him they were giving me the minimum and he was like, ‘___ that, I’ll give you $5.5 million.”
“I made a bad decision by going to Boston. I should’ve went to New York with Thibs. He told me he’d make sure he’d keep signing me.”
Some regrets are hard to get over. Jeff Teague was barely in the NBA by that point anyway. However, if he joined up with the Knicks, he potentially could’ve had another contract or two. He likely doesn’t regret the decision, but he does admit joining the Boston Celtics was a mistake.
