Former NBA star Sebastian Telfair is going to prison for at least six months. Sebastian talks a great game. He did it as a player and also in various interviews. He had escaped the worst, but some grown men have to learn the hard way. The 10-year NBA veteran point guard was one of 18 former NBA players who were arrested for fraud in 2021. It was an unsophisticated scheme that didn’t seem well thought out.
Now, according to reports, Telfair is going to prison because he failed to meet the terms of his supervised release.
Why Is Sebastian Telfair Going To Prison?
In order to remain free, Telfair had to complete court-ordered community service and report to the U.S. Probation Office.
Telfair, unlike former NBA players Terrence Williams, Glen Davis, Keyon Dooling and Alan Anderson, got off with a suspended prison sentence. The judge showed him sympathy. All he had to do was follow the terms of his conditional release. Now the 40-year-old cousin of Stephon Marbury, who earned around $19 million playing in the NBA, is headed to prison. In a hearing on Thursday, Telfair, according to Law360, told Judge Valerie E. Caponi that “a lot of things” were “stacked against” him, and that he sometimes gets “stuck in the mud.”
Telfair apologized to the judge for missing appointments with his PO, which is a no-no. He also pleaded with the judge for leniency as he says he’s been trying to work on himself and was currently training for a job in construction. Unfortunately, his failure to comply with the conditions of his probation angered the judge, who wasn’t moved by Telfair’s plea, telling the Brooklyn-born hoops legend that he had done “absolutely nothing” to get a job and “thumbed [his] nose at [his] probation officer and me over and over.”
Reportedly, he also hasn’t kept up with his restitution payments or community service.
What Was Sebastian Telfair’s Involvement In $4M NBA Benefits Scandal?
Telfair and 17 former NBA players were charged in 2021 with defrauding the NBA’s health and welfare benefit plan out of $4 million by submitting false dental claims. Telfair has explained his involvement in the scandal many times and how the judge showed him mercy when she could have sent him to prison like Big Baby Davis.
Telfair hasn’t helped himself at all or taken advantage of breaks he has gotten. His NBA career is well-traveled and so is his rocky retirement. During his 10-year NBA career, he played for the Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves (twice), Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors, and Oklahoma City Thunder. He also had stints with Tianjin Ronggang, the Xinjiang Flying Tigers, and the Fujian Sturgeons in the Chinese Basketball Association.
RELATED: Sebastian Telfair Found Guilty In New York Firearms Charge
During this time, there was a chain snatching incident, an incident where he was pulled over and found with a handgun; he later pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon and ended up getting three year’s probation in 2008. Then he attempted to revive his career in China and then ultimately returned to the States for one last stint with the OKC Thunder in 2014.
Sebastian Telfair Has History Of Problems During and After NBA Career
Then it really went all wrong for Telfair.
In 2017, after being approached by police for being illegally parked in Brooklyn, he was arrested after they found three loaded guns, a submachine gun, ammunition and a ballistic vest in his truck. Telfair, 34 at the time, started shouting, pleading and crying in a Brooklyn courtroom after the judge handed down his 3.5 year-long prison sentence.
He said, ‘Please don’t take me from society right now…you’re the only one who can help me.”
Telfair could have rotted then and there, but he’s been able to avoid extended prison time.
In 2023, the New York Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for former Telfair, overturning his 2017 conviction for criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. The decision was based on legal arguments surrounding the admissibility of evidence from Telfair’s past.
Sebastian Telfair Has Ranted Against NBA, Former Legends
Telfair hasn’t helped his relationship with the NBA either since his retirement. He once said during an interview on Vlad TV, that the NBA told him that the referees fix games and there’s nothing he can do about it. He also said that the refs had it out for him, purposely trying to steal his passion, edge and energy for the game.
“They cheated and they came into the locker room and said we couldn’t say anything about it because they were going to find us because they are protecting their brand. They took the aggressiveness out of me. That’s what they did to me. As soon as Sebastian gets a little bit excited. Tech…F the refs. That had to come from the top.”
Well now, after many chances, he will experience life behind the steel gates. You can escape the moment, but you can’t escape fate
Prior to being drafted thirteenth overall in the 2004 NBA draft by the Blazers, Telfair had been named Mr. Basketball USA, New York Mr. Basketball, and the McDonald’s All-American Game MVP. He committed to the University of Louisville but instead chose to declare for the draft after high school.
While his cousin Stephon Marbury has gone on to become a legend in China and find peace in his success and failure. Telfair is yet to figure it out.
