A year after Lebron James became the "next high school phenom" in the NBA, Sebastian Telfair was drafted 13th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers. At just six feet tall, the electric high school point guard from Brooklyn, NY made his mark with his blinding quickness and agility, with And 1 type handles and highlight reel passing ability. Much like King James, Telfair appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in his Abraham Lincoln High School uniform under the title "Watch Me Now" with the subtitle reading "Can a 6 foot high school point guard make the leap to the NBA? Yes he can."
"Bassy" as he was called, averaged an astounding 33.2 points per game at Lincoln and holds the school record for points in a game with 61. However, he was raw as a defender and an underwhelming shooter. Many scouts believed at least a year in college would make him the kind of "great" player his high school career hinted he could be.
NBA fans may forget the kind of prolific scorer Telfair was in high school given that for his career he averages just 7.8 points per game. But NBA fans may also forget that Telfair grew up in Surfside Gardens, a housing projects in New York City, the same as his cousin Stephon Marburry. The jump to the pro's was done out of necessity for his family.
"I know I can handle living there, but I don't know about my family," Telfair told Sports illustrated in March of 2004. "I've seen more friends killed than I can count. I don't want to put my family through that much longer." So he jumped ship on Rick Pitino and Louisville to whom he committed, and joined the Portland Trail Blazers who, after reaching the Western Conference Finals a few years earlier, had fallen into disarray.
As a rookie, the 18 year old Brooklyn born baller played in 68 games, but started only 26 averaging a paltry 19.6 minutes per game. Every once in a while he would zoom a pass by a defender's head for a lay-up, or blow by three guys on the way to an easy bucket. Things just never got going it seemed. Despite the low number of minutes, Telfair averaged nearly seven points and just over three assists per game; not something to write home about, but nothing to scoff at given his limited playing time.
In Telfair's second season, there was neither a noticeable forward bound nor a sophomore slump in his game. His shot improved more than ten percentage points from deep and his rebounds, steals, assists and points were all up. Telfair was running the team with confidence and precision, again displaying a natural passing knack and sporting an improved jumper. However, after a thumb injury limited the developing lead guard, Steve Blake took his spot in the starting line-up and things seemed to spiral downward from there.
In February of 2006, a loaded gun was found on the Blazers private jet in some of Telfair's things. The gun turned out to be registered to his girlfriend at the time. No charges were filed, but he served a two game suspension for violating the NBA's rule against fire arms while engaging in league business.
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