An NBA player's surprising living arrangement is hitting home with lots of young people.
NBA star Jeff Teague will make around $8.8 million this season. And he just moved into his parents' basement.
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Teague, a first round pick of the Atlanta Hawks in 2009, has played seven seasons in the NBA. This offseason, though, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers —— not far from his hometown of Indianapolis, where he already owns a home.
The funny thing is, Teague gave the house to his parents a few years back since he was spending all his time in Atlanta. Now that he's back in town, he's moving back into the house — and he's not asking his parents to leave.
"They got the master, I just got the basement," he said in an interview on Fox Sports 97.5
When asked how long he expected to live with his folks, Teague said plainly, "The whole year." In response to this, the hosts jokingly asked if he had a curfew, a bedtime, or had to do chores.
You might expect a hot-shot athlete to quickly offer up some explanation for living at home, like I'm busy looking for a place, or It's only temporary.
But not Teague. He didn't seem fazed by the jokes, and he didn't offer to elaborate.
Teague isn't alone when it comes to living with family.
In fact, recent findings from Pew Research shows that for the first time in 130 years, living at home with parents is the most common living arrangement for 18-34-year-olds in America. And internationally, this kind of arrangement has been super common for a while.
Some people are quick to jump on data like this as evidence of a coddled generation unable to solve problems for themselves. Folks even call this generation the "boomerang generation" (as in, they always come back).
But there are a lot of other factors going on here, most of which have nothing to do with coddling or laziness. Here are a few:
1. Young people aren't rushing to commit to a romantic partner, and a lot will never get married.
Marriage is great and all, but it's not mandatory. Photo by Lê Düng/Flickr.
One big reason for the rise in young people living at home is that "romantic coupling" has seen a sharp decline: In other words, young people are waiting longer and longer to move in with spouses (if they ever do at all, and a lot aren't).
And for many single folks, living with family beats living alone.
2. Jobs that can pay enough to keep up with rising housing costs are hard to find.
While employment isn't a problem for Teague, a lot of young people live at home to stay afloat while looking for a job or trying to save as much of their paycheck as they can for a down payment on their own home. It sure doesn't help that housing costs have been on the rise for years.
Add in the fact that the average college graduate these days comes out of school with over $30,000 in student debt, and it just makes economic sense for some young people to live with their parents when they can.
3. Parents are living for a really long time and some need help.
They raised you! Helping out when they get older is the least you can do. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.
Some estimates say the number of adults caring for their aging parents has tripled in the past 15 years, which makes sense because life expectancy has been rising for decades.
This kind of care can be taxing for young adults; they may have to take time away from work, pay out of pocket for extra help, or even just spend a ton of time helping their parents with daily tasks.
Moving back home can help with affordability and convenience for people in this situation.
4. Some young people actually want to live at home.
In Psychology Today, Bella DePaulo, Ph.D., referenced one study that surveyed 18-24-year-olds who had never left their parents' homes. Most of them said part of the reason they stayed was because — gasp — they actually liked living there.
She also writes that there aren't major differences in life satisfaction between parents of adults who never left home, those who left and never came back, or those who have moved in and out over time. So maybe getting to spend a little extra time together in the same house isn't the worst thing in the world.
If a 28-year-old millionaire wants to live at home, maybe it's time for us to recognize that it's a perfectly acceptable choice for anyone.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images.
What if, instead of valuing moving out on our own above all else, we valued people who grow up to be happy, empathetic, productive members of society ... even if they're doing all of that from their parents' basement?
In other words, if a situation works for you and your family: go for it! It's clearly working for the Teagues. We may not know exactly why or how their arrangement works, but Teague obviously doesn't feel like he owes anyone an explanation.
And that's the way it should be.
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An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
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Thank goodness this story has a happy ending.
What I'd give to be able to throw a tantrum like that.
To any parent dealing with a toddler tantrum—Godspeed.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."