Jeff Teague’s story of facing an unheralded Jalen Brunson on the Dallas Mavericks is even crazier now that Brunson is a Finals MVP and NBA Champion.
Brunson fought his way from a second-round pick in the shadow of Luka Doncic on the Mavericks to becoming the savior of the New York Knicks.
Keen watchers of the game knew Brunson was the real deal for years, with former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague finding out the same at the end of his career.
Jalen Brunson almost tore Jeff Teague’s ACL during one of their matchups
Teague was on the Minnesota Timberwolves during Brunson’s first two NBA seasons, with Rick Brunson serving as an assistant on the Wolves at that time.
Rick warned Teague about his son before the game, with Teague narrating the story of how he found out in real-time.
“He’s a dawg. Did I tell you he almost tore my ACL when we were in Dallas? He hit me with a jab step; his pops was our coach. He hit me with that jab, I damn near tore my s—. He hit the jumper, and his dad was like, ‘I told you to quit f—- with the little —–.’ He nearly f—-ed my career, that chubby —–.”
Jalen Brunson vs. Jeff Teague head-to-head
One of the early standout games of Brunson’s career came in 2019 against Teague and the Wolves, as Jalen scored 16 points on 7-8 shooting in just 18 minutes.
They had two games prior where both played considerable minutes, so this had to have happened over those three initial clashes.
Brunson averaged 10.5 points on 54.0% shooting against Teague over his career, while Teague averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 assists. Brunson has a 5-1 record in their six clashes.
Brunson outplayed Teague before his breakout 2021-22 season, showing how ready he was for a bigger role earlier in his career. Teague was on the back-end of his NBA career, but performances like these against former All-Stars is exactly how a second-round pick can climb up the NBA totem pole.
Now, Brunson stands alone at the top as a champion and Finals MVP.
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