It is normal for elite basketball players to be confident in their abilities, but at some point, a line has to be drawn. For Rafer Alston , Sebastian Telfair blatantly stepped over the proverbial line when he called himself the best hooper out of New York City, ahead of some all-time greats.
For context, Telfair appeared on the January 9, 2024, episode of the "It Is What It Is" podcast hosted by Cam'ron, Ma$e and Treasure Wilson. Cam put Telfair's confidence to the test, running through a list of Big Apple basketball standouts and asking whether Bassy believed he was better than each of them.
As expected, Telfair crowned himself the best out of all the names mentioned, including Alston, Mark Jackson, Stephon Marbury and Lance Stephenson, among others.
New York City is a basketball hotbed that produced dozens of NBA playersー All-Stars and Hall of Famers included. Then, there were guys like Alston and Telfair, who both contributed to the Big Apple's hoops scene in their own unique ways. Bassy was a high school basketball phenom while Alston, affectionately called Skip 2 My Lou, was a streetball legend.
While acknowledging his high school accomplishments, Alston, who played for 11 seasons in the NBA, reproved Telfair and lectured him about NYC hoops history in a later appearance on the same podcast.
"Like I chimed in today, I thought the man was high," Alston told Cam'ron. "That's what I thought, to be honest with you. I don't mean it disrespectfully. With all due respect, because my thing is, how dare somebody like that… (put himself) over the Lew Alcindors, the Kenny Andersons, the Pearl Washingtons and the list goes on. My man sitting right there, Mark Jackson," he explained.
"At the end of the day, how dare you say you're the greatest in New York City history with all this New York City history before you. None of us New York City basketball players ever put ourselves ahead of that came before us. They laid the foundation for us," Skip 2 My Lou continued.
As Alston explained, Telfair showed misplaced confidence, if anything else. The only thing he had was a phenomenal high school career at Lincoln High, leading the school to three straight PSAL championships. Nonetheless, that does not give him the right to elevate himself above the icons of the past.
"That's the problem I have with Sebastian. It's like, I understand it when you're young, you have this persona and you have this feeling about yourself… But when you get to certain age in life, reality is reality and we're grown men. Cut it short, man. Sebastian needed to pump his brakes," added the Fresno State alum.
As biting as these remarks were, Alston clarified that it was not meant to disrespect his fellow New York native. All Skip wanted was honesty and something that could be verified with facts, which Bassy had none.
For instance, Alston said he had a better career than Telfair, which is quantifiable and objectively true. Rafer averaged 10.1 points and 4.8 assists in 671 games played over 11 years. Sebastian's career averages are 7.4 points and 3.5 assists across 564 games in 10 years.
This is why it never made sense for Alston why Telfair ranked himself above the likes of Marbury and Jackson, legitimate NBA starters, at the very least.
"He can't mess with Mark Jackson, he can't mess with Stephon Marbury. These are guys that should be in the Hall of Fame," Alston stated.
Nonetheless, no matter how hard-hitting his words were, everything is cool with Alston. The respect is always there for Telfair's accomplishments, but that confidence should never replace what the evidence says.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jan 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
