Sebastian Telfair

Sebastian Telfair (born June 9, 1985 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American professional Basketball player for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.

NBA career

Telfair was the 13th overall pick in the 2004 by the Portland Trail Blazers out of Abraham Lincoln High School (New York). At , he is the shortest high school player ever to be drafted. He had committed to the University of Louisville and coach Rick Pitino during his senior year, but decided to turn professional instead.

2004–05

On January 1, 2005 Telfair scored 14 points on five-for-eleven shooting, making four of five free throws to go with five rebounds and five assists with one turnover.

In February 2005, interim coach Kevin Pritchard promoted Telfair to the starting lineup. Although Telfair put up decent numbers, the Trail Blazers lost 23 of their final 28 games and finished with the team's worst record since 1975.

2005–06

Under new head coach Nate McMillan, Telfair began the 2005 as the starting point guard. He was occasionally paired in the backcourt with another high school draftee taken in 2005, Martell Webster. Telfair's production was an improvement over his 2004 numbers, but it was still considered below par for an NBA starting point guard. As a result, he experienced increasing pressure from the Portland media. In December 2005, Telfair suffered a thumb injury and was replaced in the starting lineup by Steve Blake. Blake had fewer turnovers and more assists. Telfair returned to the court on January 9 2006, after missing 12 games. Blake continued to start with Telfair coming off the bench. Although the Trail Blazers were eliminated from 2006 contention, Telfair scored the winning basket against the Houston Rockets on April 5, 2006.

2006–07

On June 28 2006, the Trail Blazers traded Telfair along with center Theo Ratliff and a 2008 second-round pick to the Boston Celtics for guard Dan Dickau, center-forward Raef LaFrentz, and the 7th overall pick in the 2006, Randy Foye, who was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 6th overall pick, Brandon Roy. On April 24, 2007 Celtics managing partner Wyc Grousbeck announced that Telfair's nameplate on his Celtics locker had been removed and did not expect him back for the 2007.

2007–08

On June 8, 2007, Danny Ainge stated that it was still possible Telfair would remain a Celtic. However, on July 31, 2007 the Celtics traded Telfair, along with Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff, and two first-round draft picks, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett. In the 2007-08 season, Telfair had his best season as a pro averaging 9.3 ppg and 5.9 apg. Telfair also had a stretch of five games in which he had 40 assists and just 4 turnovers. On July 22, 2008 the Minnesota Timberwolves re-signed Telfair to a three-year contract.

Legal issues

2006 handgun incident

On February 15 2006, a loaded handgun was found in Telfair's pillowcase on the Blazers' private jet at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts. Telfair told authorities the gun belonged to his girlfriend and that he inadvertently grabbed the wrong bag when leaving for the team's road trip. The gun was registered to Samantha Q. Rodriguez, Telfair's girlfriend of five years. On February 21, the Massachusetts State Police announced that no charges would be filed against Telfair in the incident (Massachusetts has very strict gun laws, the violation of which can lead to a prison sentence). On February 23, the NBA front office announced that Telfair would receive a 2-game suspension for breaking the league's collective bargaining agreement, which prohibits NBA players from carrying Firearms while on league business.

October 2006 robbery incident

On October 16, 2006, Telfair had a chain reported to be worth $50,000 snatched from him while he was outside Sean "Diddy" Combs' restaurant, Justin's. The following night, Telfair left a preseason basketball game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden to attend a police lineup, where he did not make any identification.

A rumor began to circulate that he was seen making a phone call roughly an hour before rapper Fabolous was shot outside of the same club. Telfair voluntarily surrendered his cell phone records to police, and is not under investigation for any involvement, despite rumors to the contrary. It was later found that the chain belonged to Geonne Telfair, Telfair's younger sibling, and Telfair was reimbursed for the stolen property.

2007 handgun incident

Telfair and a friend, Al Eden Fuentes, were arrested early on April 20, 2007 and charged with felony possession of a weapon, after a traffic stop. The traffic stop was prompted when Telfair was spotted driving his 2006 Range Rover 77 mph on the Bronx River Parkway, a 45 mph zone. Telfair was driving under a suspended Florida license. When the police searched Telfair's vehicle, a loaded .45 caliber handgun was found under the passenger's seat. Both Telfair and Eden claimed to not have any knowledge of the handgun. Police had yet to determine the registration status of the handgun.

Biographical coverage

Telfair is the subject of the book The Jump: Sebastian Telfair and the High-Stakes Business of High School Ball by Ian O'Connor, and Through the Fire, a documentary film by Jonathan Hock which follows Telfair through his last year in high school and his decision to choose the NBA over college. Telfair is the cousin of New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, and the half-brother of former NBA player Jamel Thomas.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2004 | align="left" | Portland | 68 || 26 || 19.6 || .393 || .246 || .789 || 1.5 || 3.3 || .5 || .1 || 6.8 |- | align="left" | 2005 | align="left" | Portland | 68 || 30 || 24.1 || .394 || .352 || .743 || 1.8 || 3.6 || 1.0 || .1 || 9.5 |- | align="left" | 2006 | align="left" | Boston Celtics | 78 || 30 || 20.2 || .371 || .289 || .818 || 1.4 || 2.8 || .6 || .1 || 6.1 |- | align="left" | 2007 | align="left" | Minnesota | 60 || 51 || 32.2 || .401 || .281 || .743 || 2.3 || 5.9 || 1.0 || .2 || 9.3 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 274 || 137 || 23.7 || .391 || .302 || .771 || 1.7 || 3.8 || .7 || .1 || 7.8

References

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External links

• Yahoo! Profile
• Sebastian Telfair - Official Site
• Through The Fire documentary (2005)