The 19-year-old’s maturity and work ethic impress team

By Kerry Eggers, The Tribune

December 10, 2004

If ever there was a celebrity comfortable in his own skin, it’s Sebastian Telfair.

Take Monday night’s appearance at a holiday ornament drive at the Beaverton G.I. Joe’s. He didn’t kiss any babies, but the rookie point guard for the Trail Blazers signed dozens and dozens of autographs, posed for photos and exchanged chitchat with well-wishers, all with the sincere look and Pepsodent smile that have already become his calling card.

And he arrived early. Imagine.

“Sebastian is a people person,” says Samantha Rodriguez, Telfair’s girlfriend of four years. “He likes this stuff.”

It is early in his career, but Telfair wears the look of someone who gets it. Gets that a good image can pay dividends. At 19, he cherishes the reputation he has carefully nurtured since he became a public figure — in about fifth grade. “Even if I weren’t a pro basketball player, it would be important,” he says. “How people look at you is very important to me.”

Those close to him swear the pleasant disposition is no act. “Sebastian is a good-hearted person,” says Rasheem “Bubba” Barker, Telfair’s longtime chum and Portland housemate. “He amazes me, he is so good-hearted. Even people who do bad things to him, he doesn’t really care. He’ll still help them if they need help.”

Telfair — his friends call him “Bassy” — seems to have already made a connection with Portland’s fans. The native New Yorker has quickly become the people’s choice at Trail Blazer games. Can it be that, six weeks into his NBA career, he is a fan favorite in Portland? “I think so,” he says with a chuckle. “I don’t know why — yet. I am the new kid on the block, I guess. Sort of like a new toy.”

Growing up in Public

Telfair is a regular visitor to the loading dock after Trail Blazer games at the Rose Garden, obliging autograph seekers. He pledges to treat the sport’s followers with respect. A child will get a smile, maybe even a hug. “The fans are so important to today’s game,” he says. “If they weren’t attracted to the game and the players as much as they are, we wouldn’t get paid what we get paid. What makes our game is the fans. Whenever I get a chance to give back to them, I will, because they give so much to me.”

He pauses and smiles. “That the kids get to see you, that is one of the most important things,” he says. “When I was younger, I was in magazines and on TV. But still, whenever I saw an NBA player, I was excited. I would go over and shake their hand, and they were always nice to me. So I know how important it is when a kid gets a chance to spend a minute with me.”

Telfair has grown up in the public eye, and he is clearly comfortable with it. A scouting service once dubbed him “the best fifth-grade player in America” and he made the cover of Sports Illustrated as a senior at Brooklyn’s Abraham Lincoln High, the team he led to three city prep titles. He is the latest in a series of New York City schoolboy sensations at point guard, following in the footsteps of the likes of Kenny Anderson and Stephon Marbury, the latter his cousin. Already, Telfair is the primary subject of a book written by New York columnist Ian O’Connor, due out in February. “I love the attention,” Telfair says. “People have known who I was for a long time. I started young to prepare myself for everyone’s dream who plays basketball — to be a pro.”

Mind-set of a Pro

Telfair didn’t officially become a pro until he was taken by Portland with the 13th selection in the June draft. The process began much earlier. Trail Blazer strength and conditioning coach Bobby Medina, who has spent 13 years in the NBA, marvels at the youngster’s work ethic. Medina, who trained the likes of Jermaine O’Neal and Shawn Kemp straight out of high school, says Telfair is much more NBA-ready. “Sebastian was pretty much a pro his last year in high school, so it hasn’t been a real big adjustment for him,” Medina says. “He is the first guy to practice. He is good in the weight room. He does everything you ask him to do.”

Part of the reason is the influence of older brother Jamel Thomas, one of Telfair’s dozen siblings. Thomas, who was on the Trail Blazers’ summer-league team in Salt Lake City, starred at Providence and played 12 NBA games with New Jersey and Golden State. Thomas, 28, is now playing professionally in Italy. “Jamel is the one who taught him about the NBA — how to be a pro, what to do, how to conduct yourself, how to prepare yourself,” Medina says. As a result, “Sebastian is so far ahead of any high school kid I have seen, it’s not funny. He is ahead of some guys who have had a couple of years in college.”

Says Telfair: “Jamel has been the biggest influence in my life. When I was young, my mother was working and he had to watch me. He would come and get me from school, and I would go with him to practice at Lincoln. He helped me so much through the years. He would set me up with drills and things he was seeing the point guards were doing. He was the one who taught me how to play a pick-and-roll.” Telfair has carefully cultivated a clean-cut image. His body is unmarked with tattoos, thanks in no small part to Thomas. “When I was younger, I wanted some tattoos,” Telfair says. “Jamel said no. He saw it down the line before I even saw it.”

A Tough Childhood

Telfair’s upbringing wasn’t easy. His mother, Erica, worked a series of odd jobs to support the family. His father, Otis, spent time in prison for second-degree murder. An older brother, Sylvester, served two years for gun possession. “Things happen, and we can’t change the past,” his friend Barker says. “We just have to move forward. It has been tough for him. He knows if the wrong thing is done and he gets mixed up in it, he would be in a bad way. He just tried to stay away from it. Basketball has been his outlet.”

Telfair is protective of his father, a Vietnam veteran who has always contributed financially. “He has been involved my whole life,” Telfair says. “My mother made sure I went to see my father (in prison). I got my ways and how I am, as far as my manners and respect, from my mother. I got my personality, my confidence and my toughness on the court from my father. Growing up, there were some rough times, but sometimes we had some happy times. My mother made sure we had food on the table and clothes on our back.”

The road has taken him to Portland, 180 degrees from the lifestyle he led in the projects known as Surfside Gardens on Coney Island. He lives in a house he bought in Southwest Portland, sharing his digs with Rodriguez, 22, a native of the Bronx, and Barker, who lived on the floor above him in the projects. At age 9, when his mother moved to Atlanta, Barker moved in with the Telfairs. “When I first stepped outside by myself, he was the first person I ran into,” Telfair says. “Since then, we have been inseparable.”

Barker and Rodriguez — who is working part time in a beauty salon in the Pearl District — are Tel fair’s constant companions in Portland. He says he has enjoyed his new city, “doing regular things” with his free time. “I see every movie,” he says. “Go to the mall. I’m on the computer a lot. I play video games. Read. Talk on the phone with my friends. Play some poker with my friends now and then.
“What I love about Portland is, it’s not a big place. Everyone knows who the Trail Blazers are. You go to get something to eat, people know who you are. There are a lot of fans. That’s big for me.”

Timetable Moves Up

Adidas, which has been involved with Telfair since he was an eighth-grader, signed Telfair to a lucrative five-year endorsement contract, citing his marketability and charisma. His short stature (6-0, 160 pounds) didn’t hurt a lick. “Kids have a harder time relating to a player like Shaquille O’Neal, who is 7-1 and 330,” says Travis Gonzalez, public relations manager for Adidas. “With Sebastian, we have a guy who has the savvy and knows how to handle himself with the media, and a player our consumer can identify with. Really, he brings the whole package.”

Telfair’s playing time thus far has been minimal, but that is likely to change. Coach Maurice Cheeks says he is not afraid to play his prodigy. “I really believe he has the ability to play right now, even though he is only 19 and is going to make some mistakes,” Cheeks says. “You have to put him out on the floor and let mistakes happen and let him learn.
“Sebastian has the leadership qualities a point guard needs to play in this league. With the league’s defensive rules, defenders can’t put their hands on him, and he is so quick going to the basket. He has a special ability to pass the ball and see the open floor. Once he shoots better from the perimeter, he will be pretty tough to stop. Every time I put him on the floor, he makes things happen.”

During the preseason, Telfair said he was devoting this season to developing and learning the NBA game, that next season would be his time to warrant significant playing time.

“I have kind of pushed up my timetable,” he acknowledges. “Everybody wants to play, and I think I am ready.”