Atlanta Hawks starting point guard Jeff Teague reportedly played with a torn patella tendon in his knee during the 2015-16 NBA season.
According to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Hawks point guard Jeff Teague played with a torn patella tendon during the 2015-16 NBA season.
Jeff Teague says he played with tear in patella last season. https://t.co/soprkgaYGG
— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) June 9, 2016
Teague had posted something on his Instagram account Thursday stating, “They won’t tell y’all, but I played with a tear in my patella the whole year and could barely jump or stop…” He would later delete that post.
Teague was a first-time NBA All-Star for the 2014-15 Hawks that went on to win 60 games and play in the franchise’s first-ever trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. While Atlanta had a strong 2015-16 campaign, going 48-34 and advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Teague wasn’t as explosive last season as he was two years ago.
His growth in head coach Mike Budenholzer’s offense has been key in the Hawks’ rise to the upper echelon on the Eastern Conference the last two years. While Teague wasn’t as vertical as he would have liked to have been in 2015-16, he did improve his game from beyond the arc, emerging as one of Atlanta’s better three-point shooters.
Teague is still in his prime and a top 10 point guard in the NBA when he is at full strength. The Atlanta point guard often plays through pain, rolling his ankle just about every other week in a game like it’s no big deal. He often plays through pain and rarely misses starts for the Hawks.
Given his well-rounded nature at point guard, Teague has been on the trading block for the Hawks for much of the past year. He had ties to both the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers in recent months.
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Perhaps that is why he took down the Instagram post so quickly, as the knowledge of his torn patella tendon might heavily affect both his trade value and bargaining power for a contract extension with Atlanta later this summer?
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