Leading up to and through this weekend’s NBA All-Star game, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution will profile the Hawks’ participants. Today: Jeff Teague
Jeff Teague had an early, and perhaps a bit uncomfortable, encounter when Mike Budenholzer first took over as head coach of the Hawks.
It was May 2013 and Budenholzer called Teague to let him know how much he was looking forward to working with the incumbent point guard. However, Teague was about to become a restricted free agent. Less than two months later, Teague signed an offer sheet with the Bucks. The Hawks matched the offer three days later and locked up Teague for the next four years. The rest has been franchise history.
“He called me as soon as he got the job and said he was excited to be able to work with me,” Teague said. “At that time, I was ‘OK.’ I already knew I was in free agency. I didn’t know if I would be there but he was talking to be like I was going to be here.
“After I signed the offer sheet (and the Hawks matched) he said ‘I still love you. Don’t think anything is going to change.’ He stuck to his word.”
Now, Teague is an All-Star. And the Hawks are off to their best start ever.
Teague credits Budenholzer with helping take his game to the next level, one where he is recognized as one of the best guards in the NBA. Teague was selected to his first All-Star game last month as a reserve and will play in the league showcase Sunday.
“Free agency is tough,” Teague said recently when reflecting on the events of two summers ago. “You are put in a position that you have to do what is best for you and your family. At that time, that decision was probably the best one. I was happy that they matched the offer sheet. I love it here in Atlanta. I was glad I was able to come back.
“Once that happened, we wiped the slate clean, came back here and got ready to work. Coach Bud has been a big part of my development. It’s grown fast. He’s given me an opportunity to be myself. This system fits perfectly for me.”
Teague has increased his scoring average in each of his previous five seasons in the NBA. He is on track to do so again this season. He leads the Hawks in scoring at 17.0 points per game and assists at 7.5 per game. In 50 games, Teague has scored in double figures 42 times, including 23 20-point games.
“From the very beginning we all let him know, or specifically I let him know, he was someone I was excited about working with,” Budenholzer said. “There was a lot of talent and a lot of opportunity for both of us. He could help me for sure and hopefully I could help him. I remember his draft. People are seeing it now. He is a talented player. I’m happy for him that he is getting closer to tapping in. We are still going to push him but he is doing a few things pretty well.”
Teague said the biggest thing he has learned – and benefitted from – is Budenholzer insistence that he play his up-tempo game. And if a mistake happens, you learn from it and move on. Teague said he no longer looks over his shoulder. He also pointed to the remarkable improvement in the game of his backup Dennis Schroder as further illustration of the benefits of that freedom.
Teague goes to New York City knowing he belongs with the game’s best. He runs the point for the team with the best record, by a 6-1/2 game margin, in the Eastern Conference. Alongside, will be three teammates in Al Horford, Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap as fourth-fifths of the Hawks starting lineup will be at the game.
At the first home game after Teague was selected an All-Star, public address announcer Ryan Cameron had a picture waiting to be signed. In addition to an autograph, Cameron wanted a personal inscription.
“You told me,” Teague wrote next to his signature.
“He told me two years ago I was going to be an All-Star,” Teague said. “At that time, I was just trying to play. I wasn’t worried about being an All-Star. I was just trying to get on the floor.”
He is on the floor now and being celebrated under the bright lights as an All-Star.
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