Sebastian Telfair
- Thread starter redken
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Class of 72
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K strunz! He was supposed to leave the guns and take the cannoli. B)
beast of the east
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Man, Rysheed Jordan and Telfair will make a heck of a backcourt in a prison league.
beast of the east
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gun and run offense
Kidding aside, Rysheed is truly an unfortunate story. He may have had NBA level talent and, at very least, could have earned a decent living overseas (worlds ahead of what he came from).
He is currently 23 yo and still incarcerated awaiting trial. Sadly, I predict he would give anything to go back to the opportunity he had as a freshman at SJU.
beast of the east
Active member
It's sad for certain. Millions of kids without a ticket out get lost to the streets. Telfair was christened a future NBA great by the time he hit the 7th grade. At 17 Nike and all the sneaker companies were making pitches to him, complete with sketchpads of sneakers, apparel, etc.
I believe Rysheed had NBA level athleticism but NOT NBA level talent. He was unrefined, could take it to the hoop reasonably well, but his outside shot by NBA standards was supbar. His handle was okay, again nothing great. Not a great defender either. His biggest problem was believing what his crew said about him, and thinking the doors to the NBA would swing wide open.
Telfair has made some money playing ball, both as an NBA lottery pic and overseas.
In Barkley's book he says that he is criticized for not "keeping it real". His counter was, "I'm a NBA star, I'm worth over $100 million, and keeping it real isn't hanging out with the guys from my neighborhood, who I don't have much in common with anymore."
Guys like Jordan and Telfair never broke away from old neighborhood friends, and those associations undid them,