Growing up in Coney Island, NY, Sebastian Telfair had all the hype in the world. His astonishing on-court demeanor, confidence level, and that picture-perfect marketable smile had “experts” raving about the possibilities. Telfair led Lincoln High School to three state championships throughout his high school career, in which he became New York’s all-time leading scorer at the high school level. Some went as far as comparing the 5′11′’ phenom to basketball legend Isiah Thomas. At that point, both people and money began talking.
Of course, the national level of optimism didn’t always meet the local opinion. Like every up-and-comer, Sebastian had his doubters. They squawked at his size, inability to shoot the basketball, and his maturity both mentally and physically. In the summer of 2004, Telfair decided to take the “ready or not, here I come” approach to all of the surrounding attention. After signing a letter of intent to attend the University of Louisville and play for heralded coach Rick Pitino, Telfair decided to sign a sneaker deal with Adidas and become the first point guard to ever make the jump from high school to the NBA.
Surprisingly, the Portland Trail Blazers took a large risk by selecting him in the back-end of the lottery at thirteenth overall. He would find himself struggling for minutes right away, averaging just over 10 minutes per game throughout the first four months of his professional career. On March 4, 2005, he would get thrown into the fire for the first time, as the starting point guard for the remainder of his rookie season. As a starter in 26 games, Telfair showed multiple flashes of brilliance and held respectable averages of 11.1 points and six assists per game. With those six assists came three turnovers, and with those 11.1 points came a lackluster 42.6% shooting clip. Regardless, that type of production for a 19-year-old at his size was promising.
Sebastian’s sophomore season was not as encouraging, however. He was handed the starting job at the start of the season, where he held averages of roughly eleven points and four assists per game while shooting under 40% from the field, but a thumb injury held him out of action from mid-December to the second week of January. When he returned to the lineup, the starting point guard position had been steadily taken over by third-year veteran Steve Blake.
Telfair’s struggles as a reserve were instantly apparent, but the young guard circulated extra unnecessary drama around himself in the middle of February, where he was caught with a loaded shotgun on the team plane. His claim was that the gun belonged to his girlfriend and that he unintentionally grabbed the wrong bag before boarding the plane, but Telfair was hit with a fine from the Trail Blazers and a two-game suspension from the league.
Post-All-Star break, Telfair continued to struggle a bit and did not show any noticeable signs of improvement. At that point, Portland realized that they were more comfortable with Steve Blake and Jarret Jack, and decided to shop Sebastian around.
On 2006 draft day, Portland found a suitor. Involved in a six-player deal, “Bassy” was shipped to the Boston Celtics, where he’d receive a fair chance at redeeming his career.
After promising summer league and preseason showings, Sebastian earned the starting point guard position over Delonte West and rookie Rajon Rondo, who also impressed. As a starter throughout the month of November, Telfair held averages of nearly eleven points and 4.4 assists per game on 47.9% shooting from the field. Initially, Sebastian looked alright, but all went downhill from there.
By the end of December, his starting job was snatched away by Delonte West. Throughout the remainder of the season, Telfair was in Doc Rivers’ doghouse and was unable to find himself a stable spot in the rotation. Rajon Rondo helped West handle the bulk of the minutes at point guard, leaving Sebastian in nowheresville. His playing time after the All-Star break was reminiscent of his first few months in the NBA in 2004-2005, except this time he didn’t go out with a bang.
Just days after the regular season had ended, Telfair had gotten himself caught up in another dilemma (adding to the late-2006 incident involving Sebastian getting robbed at gunpoint). The disappointing young guard was caught going 77 miles per hour in 45-mph zone in Yonkers, but that wasn’t the biggest issue. He was also caught driving with a suspended Florida license, and had a loaded .45 caliber handgun underneath the front passengers seat.
It’s safe to say that it was the lowest point in Sebastian’s young career, especially considering that Celtics managing partner Wyc Grousbeck released a statement that said that Telfair was “done” in Boston.
Months later, still unsure of his future with the Celtics, Sebastian made it a point to get his career on the right track. He spent his entire summer out in Las Vegas, chiseling his body and and working on his game. Though he was kept off Boston’s summer league roster, he attended practices and held his head high.
In late July of 2007, Sebastian was packaged in an an eight-player blockbuster deal which sent Kevin Garnett to Boston and landed Telfair in his latest location – Minnesota.
Similar to what happened Boston, Sebastian started off nicely with his new team. This time, however, he caught a big break early on when the Timberwolves found out that guard Randy Foye would be unable to play for months. This was the big opportunity Sebastian Telfair had been hoping for all summer long.
Coming off the bench in nine of Minnesota’s first 13 games, it didn’t take long for Randy Wittman to hand Sebastian the keys to the car. In the final game of November, “Bassy” put up 17 points and dished four assists in his fourth start of the season. From that moment forward, the starting job was his.
Throughout the 16 games of December, Sebastian held averages of just under eleven points and seven assists per game, and finally began showing results. Granted, his shooting percentage was in line with the earlier stages of his career at 38.4%, but there is no doubt that improvements had been made.
In both Portland and Boston, it seemed as though Telfair’s motive was to score first, rather than distribute. It’s tough to blame him, considering the fact that he grew up in New York and was a score-first guard throughout his high school career. This season, however, he finally began to show that he was more than just a volume scorer. His dazzling quickness, ball skills, and playmaking ability were shown right away. It took him over three seasons to do it, but Sebastian Telfair proved that he can successfully run an offense.
Unfortunately, his best professional season was cut short when he was diagnosed with a severe left ankle sprain on March 7 in Sacramento. The injury would keep him out for the rest of the season, and prevent him from making a loud statement at the end of his contract year.
Regardless, Telfair has guided his career in the right direction. It’s not about the fact that he held career-highs in assists (5.9 APG), rebounding (2.3 RPG), steals (1.0 SPG), field goal percentage (40.1%), and assists-per-turnover (3.2). It’s that he realized his previous mistakes and took a giant step forward from a maturity perspective. Sebastian has cleaned up his act and proven that he can be a valuable piece to a team that is in need of a point guard. He now has realized his number one strength – running an offense and being a playmaker.
The most promising aspect of this? He’s still just 22 years old. Of course, it’s unlikely that he will ever come close to living up to his New York hype, and it’s probably fair to say that he may never put together a career that warrants his own sneaker. However, we do know that he is far from the second coming of Omar Cook.
We don’t know where “Bassy” will end up this summer and we don’t know exactly what caliber player he will become. But we do know what Sebastian Telfair isn’t – a finished product.
