Sebastian Telfair is a former American professional basketball player best known for his highly publicized journey from a top high school prospect to the NBA. Telfair gained national recognition as one of the most accomplished high school basketball players of his time.
Born on June 9, 1985, in Brooklyn, New York, Sebastian Telfair is the son of Erica and Otis Telfair. He grew up in the Coney Island neighborhood and is the cousin of former NBA player Stephon Marbury. His younger brother, Ethan Telfair, also pursued a basketball career.
Telfair attended Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, a school known for producing elite basketball talent. There, he was ranked as a five-star recruit by Rivals.com and was widely regarded as a basketball prodigy. Originally committed to the University of Louisville, Telfair ultimately decided to skip college and declared for the NBA Draft directly out of high school.
Sebastian Telfair began his professional career in 2004 after being selected 13th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Draft. Over the course of his NBA tenure, Telfair played for several teams including the Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, and Toronto Raptors.
In 2008, while with the Timberwolves, he signed a three-year contract extension. However, frequent trades marked much of his NBA career. Notably, in July 2009, Telfair was traded to the Clippers, and by February 2010, he was moved to the Cavaliers before returning to the Timberwolves later that year.
In December 2011, Telfair joined the Phoenix Suns, and in early 2013, he was traded to the Toronto Raptors. Following his NBA stint, Telfair played in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He signed a one-year contract with Tianjin Ronggang in October 2013. In 2014, he briefly returned to the NBA with the Oklahoma City Thunder but was waived after a short tenure. He then returned to China, finishing the 2014–15 season with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers and later joining the Fujian Sturgeons in 2016.
Sebastian Telfair married longtime partner Samantha Rodriguez, and the couple has two children: a son, Sebastian Telfair Jr., and a daughter, Samaya Telfair. While the couple maintained a relatively private life, reports later surfaced citing allegations of domestic issues, including claims of physical abuse by Samantha Rodriguez. These claims were shared in the context of divorce proceedings but were not adjudicated in court.
In August 2019, Telfair was sentenced to three and a half years in prison after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon. The conviction stemmed from a June 2017 incident in which he was found with a loaded firearm during a traffic stop in Brooklyn. The case marked a difficult chapter in Telfair’s post-basketball life. His legal team declined to comment following the sentencing.
| Birth Date: | 9 Jun, 1985 |
| Age: | 35 yrs |
| Occupations: | Basketball player |
| Citizenship: | United States of America |
| Birth Place: | Brooklyn |
| Education: | Abraham Lincoln High School |
| Gender: | Male |
| Description: | American basketball player |
| Net Worth 2021: | 4 million |
