Sebastian Telfair
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Sebastian Telfair spent 10 seasons in the league and played for eight different teams.
Former NBA lottery pick Sebastian Telfair is looking to make a return to basketball. It was recently confirmed that Telfair announced that he will enter the BIG3 Draft for season nine.
Telfair last played in the NBA in 2014 with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the last time he played professionally was back in 2017. In October of 2021, Telfair and a list of former NBA players were arrested on charges of allegedly defrauding the league’s health and welfare benefit plan out of around $4 million. Telfair plead guilty to the charges in March of 2023 and was sentenced to three years probation.
In August of 2025, Telfair’s probation was revoked after failing to meet with his probation officer and failing to complete court-ordered community service. He was ordered to serve six months in federal prison which started in August of last year. Telfair was released from prison in December and now is getting ready to get back into basketball.
A Look at Sebastian Telfair’s NBA Career
The Portland Trailblazers selected Telfair with the 13th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. Telfair was drafted out of high school and was arguably the top player in high school at the time. Telfair bounced around the league and never really established himself as a player.
His best years were when he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2007 to 2009. In his first season with Minnesota, he averaged 9.3 points and 5.9 assists during the 2007-08 season. The following year he averaged 9.8 points, which was a career-high and 4.6 assists.
In his final NBA season with the Thunder, he appeared in 18 games and averaged 8.4 points and 2.8 assists. The Thunder ended up waiving Telfair in November of 2014. After his time in the NBA, Telfair spent a few years playing in the Chinese Basketball Association. Though Telfair had a memorable high school career, he never saw that success in the NBA or as a professional.
Sebastian Telfair and His Off the Court Issues
During his time in the league and after, Telfair got into some issues off the court. In April of 2007, Telfair and a friend were arrested and charged with a felony possession of a weapon. The next year, Telfair pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon and received probation for three years. In October of 2008, the NBA gave Telfair a three-game suspension after the guilty plea.
Telfair was arrested again in June of 2017 on weapons and marijuana-related charges during a traffic stop. In April of 2019, he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, but his conviction was overturned by the New York Court of Appeals in November of 2023. Despite the issues that Telfair has experienced, he is working on getting things back in order in his life.
He recently revealed that he moved back into the projects after making a good amount of money throughout his playing career. “I played over 10 years in the NBA and made tens of millions of dollars. I had everything I ever dreamed of,” Telfair said in a YouTube video entitled Sebastian Telfair: Final Days of Freedom (1). “But after a series of legal issues and personal problems, my life has become something I could never imagine.”
Telfair will have the opportunity to get back on the court and play the game he loved when he teams up with the BIG3. It will be good to see him back playing basketball again.