Jeff Teague drops another hilarious anecdote, this time on Kyrie Irving’s Nets debut
Former NBA player Jeff Teague recently opened up about when he faced Kyrie Irving in his Brooklyn Nets debut. Irving joined Brooklyn in the 2019-20 season, tagging along with his former NBA Finals adversary Kevin Durant.
In a recent episode of Teague's podcast, he expressed how amazed he was with Irving in his first game on the Nets. Teague was baffled by the fact that Irving dropped 50 points and couldn't do a thing to stop his relentless assault against the Minnesota Timberwolves, although Minnesota won 127-126.
"He cooked though," Teague said. "I knew he was about to. When I saw the schedule, the first game in Brooklyn, we got to play Kyrie. I think it was his first game there. He went for 50. I made Josh Okogie guard him at the end. ... First game, he already got 50, and he was trying to get the game-winner."
Looking back at Kyrie Irving's tenure with the Nets
In the 2019-20 NBA season, Kyrie Irving made a surprising move to the Brooklyn Nets. After promising Boston Celtics fans that he'd love to stay and play for the team, Irving broke his promise after two seasons. Then came the 2020-21 season when Kevin Durant decided to join forces with Kai.
The pairing of Durant and Irving shocked the world and had fans and analysts alike assuming they could win a couple of championships together. However, due to consistent injuries getting in the way and Irving's off-court issues, the All-Star duo never accomplished their ultimate goal. The Nets organization also attempted to solidify their status by bringing in James Harden and then Ben Simmons for Harden a year later but ultimately failed to win the gold.
Despite the constant injuries and off-court issues that became hindrances to Irving's tenure in Brooklyn, the star point guard averaged 27.1 points, 5.8 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in four seasons. He was also named an All-Star twice suiting up for the Nets
Eventually, in typical Kyrie Irving fashion, things didn't work out for him, and he decided to pack his bags and ask for a trade in the 2022-23 season. Irving shocked the basketball world once again when he joined forces with Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. However, the newfound Texas duo are yet to make a big impact.
This season, the Mavericks (36-28) are eighth in the Western Conference, which is underwhelming considering they have two of the NBA's best players today. Doncic is nearly averaging a triple-double with 34.7 ppg, 9.8 apg, 9.0 rpg and 1.5 spg. As for Irving, he's putting up his usual numbers with 25.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.0 apg and 1.2 spg. Despite providing elite numbers, the duo has struggled to climb the ranks in the West.