What happened to Sebastian Telfair is one of those cautionary tales that pervade the NBA. Considered a basketball prodigy and a New York City hoops legend, Telfair played 10 seasons in the league but eventually burned through all his career earnings.
So, what really happened? Telfair stopped by with the guys at "The Pivot" podcast and explained his side on various issues, including why he was back to square one financially after playing for a decade in the league.
Picked 13th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers straight out of high school, fans who followed Telfair's rise expect him to become some kind of star. He had a decent, but unspectacular, rookie season. Still, it was not exactly out of the ordinary for prep-to-pro point guards.
However, because of inconsistent play and off-the-court trouble, the Blazers traded him to the Boston Celtics in a package that involved a 2006 first-round pick that eventually became Brandon Roy .
Since then, "Bassy" has been moving from city to city, playing in Minneapolis for a couple of seasons, then in Los Angeles , Cleveland , Phoenix, Toronto , and Oklahoma City . All in all, he accumulated 10 seasons, not bad compared to the average NBA career, but not exactly the outcome many expected when he entered the league.
According to Telfair, he made around $19 to $20 million, but his net earnings were much lower.
"I played 10 years, you said I made 20 (million). We all know about Uncle Sam, so what's that? 10 (million). That's about a million a year. That ain't no money," Telfair told Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor. "That's the real truth. The real truth is I ain't really make no money. I really ain't make no money."
"So, people like, 'Oh, I don't understand how you go crazy,' so I'm like, 'I ain't make no Floyd Mayweather money. I ain't make the type of money where I'mma go crazy because I don't have it today," Telfair continued.
As Telfair pointed out, he did not have a chance to make a substantial amount, aside from a couple of multi-year deals, during his rookie contract or while with the Wolves. He had to settle for one-year, veteran's minimum contracts the rest of the way until he retired for good in 2014.
Sebastian made no excuses, clarifying that that was the plain truth about how much money he took home during his NBA career. Between the agent fees and government taxes, he was practically left with about half of the amount he signed up for.
That said, Telfair admitted he did not exactly exercise caution when it came to his dough. He invested in an upscale Chinese restaurant called "Philippe" and reportedly lost $1 million when it closed down. Moreover, he spent millions more to support his family, including his 14 brothers and sisters, plus his parents.
"As for the business part of it, we struggled as a unit," stated Telfair. "We didn't give ourselves time to grow. We was like, 'Aight, we got drafted, we got the Adidas contract.' Especially me because my ego, I wanted it to be overnight, where it's like, what do it look like when you got some money and you successful? What do it look like?"
"My mother got a house, you look a certain way, etc. etc. I wanted that overnight, and my family did also… It takes time and we was in a rush being inexperienced," he added.
And just like that, it was already over before it began for one of the most hyped high school prospects ever. He got himself into more trouble with a couple of brushes with the law after his playing days. Telfair was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for a gun case in NYC and six months for his involvement in a $4 million healthcare fraud scheme .
The former Lincoln High School star is unfortunately back in the projects , the same place he hoped basketball would pull him away from for good. Still, he was as hopeful as ever and is already looking forward to continuing his basketball career by joining the BIG3 .
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.
