Former NBA guard Jeff Teague has revealed that he didn’t think too highly of White players during his basketball career. On an episode of the Club 520 Podcast, Teague was asked if there was ever a player he had underestimated before playing against them, and he spoke about his bias.
“Anytime I seen a white dude, I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s sad,'” Teague said. “It didn’t matter who they were, where they was from, any white dude was sad to me.”
This is a stereotype that exists regarding White players. Gordon Hayward has addressed this subject and shared how Metta Sandiford-Artest underestimated his abilities once.
Teague later explained that he formed his opinion after facing off against Greg Paulus, who was once regarded as the top point guard prospect in his high school class.
“Ever since I played Greg Paulus, I was like these boys are sad,” Teague stated. “… He’s in high school, he’s a McDonald’s All-American, and they was talking about him like he was just so good, and I played him. And after that moment, I was like they sad.”
When asked if he thought college phenom Jimmer Fredette was “sad,” Teague admitted he did.
“Before the game, I was like, He’s sad,'” Teague said. “And then when he started hooping, I’m like, ‘Damn, Jimmer can hoop.’ But when I go into the game, I’m like, ‘Yeah, he’s sad.”
Teague stated there was only one White player whom he thought he couldn’t punk in high school, and that was Kevin Love.
“Kevin Love was the first one,” Teague said. “I’m like, ‘Man, I’m about to punk this dude. He fat.’ Man, Aswaga, whatever that team was called, he probably had 70 points on us, bro. Him and Kyle Singler, they killed us. I was like, ‘Alright, them two white dudes good. Rest of them sad, though.'”
Love was a superstar at Lake Oswego High School and has gone on to have an impressive NBA career. He won an NBA title in 2016 and has made five All-Star and two All-NBA teams.
Kyle Singler, though, didn’t quite have the kind of NBA career that some might have thought he would when he was in high school. The Detroit Pistons selected him with the 33rd pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, and he’d only be in the league for six seasons.
While Singler didn’t turn out to be a star, many other White players have, with Love just being one example. Nikola Jokic has won MVP in three of the last five seasons, while Luka Doncic is seen as one of the favorites for the award for the upcoming campaign. Despite their success, the stereotype isn’t going away.
