The Boston Celtics got the upper hand on the Dallas Mavericks last year, beating them in five games in the NBA Finals, but there may have been some extra history involved between the two biggest stars on each team.
On the most recent episode of “The 520 Club Podcast,” Jeff Teague had former Celtic Evan Turner on and discussed just how good Luka Doncic was early in his career. At the time, the 2020-21 season, Turner was an assistant coach for the Celtics while Teague was hanging on the roster in what would be the last season of his career.
“I was the first person that really told [Teague] how cold Luka was,” Turner started. “He [was] like ‘Man, this man kinda like lazy, he’s just not doing enough for me, he’s whining.’ I’m like ‘Look at him, he’s the man, Luka’s him. He’s not worried about no regular season game… He’s gonna turn it on.’ We were up like 10 or 12. [Teague] said ‘[Jaylen Brown] and [Jayson Tatum] getting rid of this man.’ I said ‘I’m telling you, in clutch, if it gets close, we [are] not going to win.’ It gets closer, they call a timeout, I think they’re down like two… Did I call out where he [was] going to shoot it from?”
“Yeah, he about to do that, hit that step-back,” Teague recalled, “and he’s gonna hit the game-winner”.
“While we’re watching, you learned about Luka Doncic,” Turner continued. “He hit the shot, I looked at [Teague] and said ‘I told you!”
Later in the story, Teague revealed that Doncic’s game-winner had Jayson Tatum questioning his place in the NBA.
What made it so funny,” Teague said, “[Jayson Tatum]… we go in [the locker room] and he was like ‘[Is] Luka better than me?’ [Turner] was like ‘Damn near.'”
While Celtics fans may disagree, Doncic is a better player than Tatum. Tatum is the better defender, but his offensive game isn’t anywhere near Doncic’s. It took a near-perfect roster for Tatum and his Celtics to beat Doncic and the Mavs, and even then, Jaylen Brown was handed Finals MVP. Tatum has come a long way as a playmaker and scorer but if you ask coaches and executives around the league, most would take Doncic.
