In 2023, the Minnesota Timberwolves boast one of the most talented rosters in team history top to bottom. With extensive talent on both sides of the basketball, they are in better position to contend for a championship than arguably any other time in franchise history.
But as Wolves fans are well aware, things have not always been so bright. In the last two decades, Minnesota has suffered a 14-year postseason drought and is still yet to win a playoff series since the 2004 Western Conference Semifinals.
When the Timberwolves finally broke through to the playoffs again in 2018, Jeff Teague was the team’s starting point guard. As many are already aware, Teague has been in the news in 2023 for appearing in the Club 520 Podcast, where he has shared various entertaining stories from his playing career.
Recently, Teague made another appearance on the podcast. This time, he shared a comical memory from the 2017-18 season in Minnesota.
Jeff Teague shared a hilarious memory from the Timberwolves’ 2017-18 season.
Wolves fans remember the 2017-18 year as Jimmy Butler’s only full season in the Twin Cities. Minnesota’s quest to end their streak of missing the playoffs came down to the final game of the regular season against the Denver Nuggets.
The Western Conference standings were such that the winner of the regular season finale would earn the eight seed in the playoffs and face the Houston Rockets, while the loser would be sent home. With everything on the line, Timberwolves fans packed the Target Center for this highly anticipated game.
Jeff Teague detailed the tense end of the game on the podcast, admitting that Jamal Murray was giving him immense trouble. “He started going crazy,” said Teague. “Murray started stepping back, hitting threes. I said, ‘I’m the reason we’re about to lose,'”
The game went to overtime. Teague revealed that down the stretch of the game, he was trying hard to avoid catching any blame for a potential loss. “I’m throwing the ball to Jimmy, I’m running to the corner,” Teague said. “Minnesota already hated me, they gave me all this money and traded Rubio … Let me get to the corner.”
When Jimmy passed Jeff the ball late in the game, Teague said he threw it right back, not wanting to take a shot. Eventually, he hit a floater with less than a minute remaining in overtime to give the Timberwolves the lead. “I was so scared to shoot that,” said Teague.
Of course, Minnesota would go on to win the game and advance to the playoffs. Jeff Teague’s depiction of this story is endearing because of how candid he is with regard to his emotions in the heat of the moment. Many fans will appreciate Teague’s light-heartedness and honesty when describing one of the most memorable regular season games in recent Timberwolves history.