Atlanta Hawks point guard Jeff Teague wants everyone to know he played hurt this season and still put up good numbers.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, Teague said he played all of the 2015-16 season with a torn patellar tendon in his knee and “could barely jump or stop.”
Mike Mazzeo of ESPN:
A source described the nature of Teague’s injury to ESPN as a partial tear. Teague has also said previously that injuries to his ankles and knees hampered him this season.
He did not require surgery following an MRI taken after the season and is currently resting, but he should be back on the court soon, a source said.
“He is kind of, for lack of a better word, managing his knee,” coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters at the team’s postseason news conference after the Hawks were eliminated from the playoffs. “I don’t know if it is knees and ankles. I would say it is hard to know what he shares and what he doesn’t. I think he was relatively healthy and he was good so many nights and he is such a good player. I do think he was managing it a little bit like a lot of NBA guys do.”
Despite the injury, Teague still averaged 15.7 points and 5.9 assists while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range. He missed only a couple of games during the regular season and played all 10 of the Hawks’ playoff games.
Teague, 27, is entering the final year of his contract and was the subject of trade rumors this season and still is heading into the offseason.
