The All-Star and NBA champion who was about to play for Barça
Jeff Teague has revealed that he received an offer from the city of Barcelona in which he would earn the same as in the best basketball league in the world.
Jeff Teague ended his professional career five years ago, after winning the NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021. However, the former American point guard could have extended his career in Europe. In an appearance on the Club 520 podcast, he revealed that Barça offered him a two-season contract with the same salary he earned in the American league, but he ultimately decided to decline it due to the distance.
From Hawks star to NBA champion
Teague arrived in the NBA in 2009 when he was selected 19th overall in the draft. His best years came with the Atlanta Hawks, the team he played for over eight seasons, divided into two stints, seven of which were consecutive.
The point guard grew to become one of the best in his position. In the 2013/14 season, he averaged 16.5 points and 6.7 assists per game, before making his NBA All-Star debut in 2015. That edition became historic due to the opening tip-off featuring the Gasol brothers and included four representatives from Atlanta: Paul Millsap, Al Horford, Kyle Korver, and Teague himself.
During the 2016/17 season, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers. He then played for the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2017 to 2020, before returning to Atlanta to complete the season. His last season began with the Boston Celtics and ended in the best way possible: lifting the title with the Milwaukee Bucks alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, after defeating the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the Finals.
Kendrick Nunn, an example for players without a spot in the NBA
During the program, Teague and the other guests also discussed Kendrick Nunn, who decided to leave the NBA to jump to European basketball and became one of the major figures in the continental competition. The American shooting guard won the EuroLeague in 2024 with Panathinaikos and, according to figures published by Eurohoops, he is the second highest-paid player in the tournament, with a net salary of 4.5 million euros per season. An amount that would be approximately equivalent to a contract of 10 million dollars annually in the NBA.
The podcast participants highlighted his decision as an example for other players waiting for an opportunity in the American league. “All the players waiting for a call from the NBA should do the same as Kendrick Nunn. He is still young, earning a lot of money, getting paid well, playing as a leader, living in Athens, and that is something players here should consider,” they commented.
It was then that Teague revealed the proposal he received from Barça and the reasons why he decided not to accept it.
“Maybe I wouldn’t be retired”
“Barça offered me the same salary I had in the NBA for two years, but I rejected the offer because it was too far,” explained the former player, who is currently 38 years old.
Teague acknowledged that he would have liked to see how his experience in European basketball would have been. “If there is something I would have liked to try in my career, it might have been to give myself a chance and see how that was. Maybe I could have thrived there and it would have gone great for me. Perhaps I wouldn’t be retired, but things are as they are,” he added.
A 100 million dollar career
Throughout his 12 seasons in the NBA, Teague accumulated earnings of 100 million dollars. His time in Minnesota and his second stint in Atlanta were particularly lucrative: between 2017 and 2020, he earned 60 million dollars during his three seasons with the Timberwolves and his return to the Hawks.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El All-Star y campeón de la NBA que estuvo a punto de jugar en el Barça