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"I was genuinely hurt" - Jeff Teague explained his beef with the Indiana Pacers
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- "I was genuinely hurt" - Jeff Teague explained his beef with the Indiana Pacers
(© Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images)
For every role player in the NBA, no matter how many teams they have represented throughout their career, there is at least one franchise that provides them the perfect environment - one where they feel truly valued and rediscover their love for the game.
For Jeff Teague , that team was the Indiana Pacers . During his brief tenure with them, Teague not only realized that his playing style suited the team's identity but was confident that he could be a part of the team's future ambitions.
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However, despite the strong connection he developed with the organization, the Pacers eventually moved in a different direction and traded him, leaving Teague frustrated at how he was unfairly dealt and how he was tailor-made to contribute to the team's system.
Teague knew he was best suited for the Pacers
When Jeff joined Indiana in the summer of 2016, after spending his first seven campaigns of his career with Atlanta , both he and his new team had a lot of expectations. With Paul George leading the charge, the Pacers seemed like a team that could well and truly contend for the title from the Eastern Conference. However, after being clean-swept in the first round of the playoffs, it became clear that the Pacers needed to move in a different direction to win.
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Thus, not only did they part ways with PG13 but decided to revamp their roster by trading away Teague, who averaged 15.3 points and was the team's second-best scorer throughout the 2016-17 season.
However, Teague felt differently about his fit in Indiana. Not only was he certain that he could be the ideal point guard that this team needed to make their mark in the East but was on board with the franchise's working culture.
That is why when Victor Oladipo led the Pacers with 23.1 points per game in the 2017-18 season and made them win 48 games, Teague felt that his presence was all that Indiana needed to elevate their winning prowess even more.
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"When I was with the Pacers, that was my favorite year. Paul George wanted to be traded, he did the baseball game. So, I had talked to Kevin Pritchard and they're like, 'Ok, we're gonna bring you back.' I'm like, 'Damn, I'm gonna stay with the Pacers. They ain't got no point guard. This is like the perfect thing.' When PG said he didn't want to be here no more, he said, 'We're going to be tanking. We about to be a—. We going to trade, we love you, Jeff.' They trade Paul George for Oladipo and Sabonis and they are damn near the top five teams in the East," Teague recalled .
"I was hurt, I was genuinely hurt. I've been mad at KP ever since then. And you know what he told me in Minnesota, 'I didn't know it was going to play like this. You would have been perfect for the team.'"
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Role players never get their wish
Interestingly, Jeff's frustration stemmed not from ego but from understanding.
He knew how seamlessly he fit within that lineup and how his playing style could have complemented Oladipo's scoring and Domantas Sabonis ' dominance around the rim.
Put simply, for Teague, being traded away felt less like a basketball decision and more like a missed opportunity - one that left him with a sense of unfinished business. So, as harsh as this story might sound, it reflects a common truth in the NBA: role players are rarely given long-term trust. When franchises decide to rebuild or move on from their superstar, the supporting cast often becomes collateral damage.
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Who knows, Teague might have been the C-factor that could have led the Pacers over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the tense seven-game playoff series that year.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 15, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
