“He lit us up”: Michael Jordan’s son did not hesitate to name ‘unexpected’ former Giannis Antetokounmpo teammate as toughest player to guard

Jeffrey Jordan, son of NBA legend Michael Jordan, revealed that Jeff Teague was the toughest player he had to guard during high school. Speaking on Friday’s “Hoops to Homes,” the former Illinois guard didn’t hesitate before naming Giannis Antetokounmpo’s former teammate:

“I think in high school, the toughest person for me to guard was Jeff Teague. Jeff Teague was probably the toughest for me to guard and it was just unexpected. I had never heard of (Teague), he was on the Indy Peeks team at the time and I had never heard of him.”

Jordan recalled his first run-in with Teague.

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"It was my first time playing out of state, a different competition. He lit us up," he expressed.

Jeff Teague attended Wake Forest after his stint in Indiana. He spent two seasons with the Demon Deacons before declaring for the NBA draft in 2009. Selected as the 19th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks, he spent seven seasons with the franchise before moving to four teams in five years.

In his final NBA season, Teague signed with the Milwaukee Bucks and won his first NBA title, helping Giannis Antetokounmpo defeat the Phoenix Suns in the Finals.

Jefferey Jordan enrolled at the University of Illinois in 2007 before leaving to join the University of Central Florida in 2012. Despite his basketball journey coming to an end after college, Jordan has become a successful entrepreneur.

Giannis Antetokounmpo pleads his case over Michael Jordan's brand value during a discussion with iShowSpeed

Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo hosted streamer iShowSpeed in Greece during the offseason and participated in an IRL stream. The two were seen playing basketball and roaming around Athens before engaging in a heated debate over Michael Jordan's popularity.

The streamer believed that soccer stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were the bigger draws, but was quickly shut down by Giannis, who mentioned the Jordan brand's value.

"You think Messi is more famous than Michael Jordan?” he asked. “You know how much money the Jordan brand makes? $5 billion."

Giannis then proceeded to invite Speed to meet MJ, but with a special stipulation.

"You want to meet him," Giannis queried. "Don’t come to MJ and start barking," he remarked.

Despite his offer, the meeting never came to fruition as one of Jordan's associates turned down Giannis' request during the stream.

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About the author

Arian Kashyap

Arian Kashyap is a basketball journalist at Sportskeeda with over two years of experience at Essentially Sports and Spice Bite and a Bachelor's in Physical Education and Sports Sciences.

Arian's favorite team is the Miami Heat and it’s mainly down to Dwyane Wade being his favorite player of all time. Arian loved how explosive Wade was as a player and he had all the attributes, whether that be shooting, defending or passing. Arian really liked how he won titles both with and without a dynasty behind him.

Arian has also worked with Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools and was the manager for a Delhi-based women’s team called Garwhal Untied. Garwhal won the Delhi league and were runners-up during his tenure.

Arian has judged essay writing competitions for the Commonwealth Students Welfare Group of India in 2023 and was a part of the U-14 team for the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools academy that qualified for the AIFF Round in 2023.

When not working or watching sports, Arian likes riding his motorcycle and reading.

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