Brandon Jennings bought a house for his mother with his first NBA paycheck. Even before going into the NBA, he was earning millions! He had experience playing in a foreign league. Playing for Lottomatica Roma, he was the first American to go from high school to the pro league in Italy. The former Oak Hill star had a celebrated high school career. He was one of the best in the 2009 NBA draft class. And that was until injuries derailed his career. But before that, was he the absolute best among several other talented players? That has caused a debate among some of the stars from his class as Jennings refuses to let his legacy fade.

The conversation began with Jennings’ claim that Jrue Holiday, who is also from the same draft class, wasn’t better than him. This was quite a bold declaration that saw a swift reaction from other notable members of the same class, such as Jeff Teague and Ty Lawson. Lawson felt that Jennings focused too much on his standout rookie performance of 55 points against the Warriors. 

As soon as they responded to Jennings, the retired NBA player was quick to hit back. During his live session with Gilbert Arenas and other members, Jennings doubled down on his claims. He said, “Ty Lawson said today is all I do is talk about my 55 point game I don’t even bring that game up. I never bring that game up no more forget the 55. Let’s just talk about this and then they talk about all I did was play on sorry a– teams…Stop it just say y’all wasn’t ready yet and y’all had to develop to become who y’all became.”

His rant went long as he continued, “Since 11 years old I was playing my mama rent because of basketball that’s how good I was stop the cap stop this s–t.” “You m———— had to go to college don’t do that everybody getting paid today because of me don’t f—— do that stop that s–t. 1.5 million dollars out of high school y’all went to class don’t do that s–t,” Jennings said.

He concluded his rant by urging to play against Teague, Lawson, and Lou Williams even when the last had nothing to do in this. Williams even commented on the IG post asking, “Now what I got to do with it 😂😂. Check ball tho I’m down lol.” 

He was right about the beginning of his career. While Jennings committed to the Arizona Wildcats, he ultimately chose to play overseas until he became eligible to play in the NBA. He made nearly $1.6 million while playing in Italy. Before that, in his high school career, he swept several awards, including the Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award (2008), Gatorade Player of the Year (Virginia), Parade Magazine Player of the Year, and EA Sports Player of the Year. He was ranked the No. 1 prospect in ESPNU.

However, Teague argued that while Holiday might not have had as strong of a high school career as Jennings, he is making up for it and carving a new history in the pro league.

Jeff Teague and Ty Lawson criticized Brandon Jennings over claims on Jrue Holiday

Lawson didn’t seem so keen on Jennings’ rookie-year accolades. Both focused on the one factor missing in Jennings’ career and that is consistency. Lawson reminded me that a performance like the 55-point display by Jennings happens just once. “Bruh, you was cool… but you wasn’t nicer than me in the NBA,” Lawson said.

On the Club 520 podcast, Teague praised Jennings’ skills and impact. However, he also argued that his impact was only limited to high school. Speaking of Jennings’ NBA career, Teague felt that he had never played with star players. “You ain’t never played with no killers… You didn’t have to pass the ball to Joe Johnson and f—— Jamal Crawford.” 

While Teague appeared to have no issue discussing a comparison between himself and Jennings, he feels that Holiday has a different path. “Drew Holiday? Nah. Drew Holiday should definitely have a Defensive Player of the Year,” He added. Holiday has already won two titles, playing for the Milwaukee Bucks and Celtics in the last five years. This doesn’t seem to end anytime soon. What is your take on this?