Chapter 12
Sebastian Telfair was sitting in the
Lincoln bleachers and handicapping the companies that were after his
feet.
Telfair had worn Adidas, Nike, and Reebok at different points in the
season. He
said Adidas was in the lead for his services, but that there was still
time
for the opposing teams to catch up.
We talked about money, and why amateur athletes
were denied an opportunity to cash in on their talents. The system was
set up so that the only way a high school or college player could
profit
from his or her skill was to take gifts or cash from people who weren't
allowed to give them. It opened a door for me to ask Sebastian about
the
$250,000 offer he said he'd received as an underclassman from a man who
claimed
to be representing a major college in the East.
"I was at a game, another school's
game,
just watching," Telfair said. "It was an alumni, but I brushed it off.
Certain
schools are dirty, and certain schools are not dirty. Like Rick Pitino.
He
ain't doing nothing. Rick Pitino is not doing anything illegal. He's
not
buying you a drink. That's what I like about him."
I inquired about the man who made the
alleged
offer. "He asked me what school I was going to," Telfair said. "I
didn't
even know the guy at all. I knew the school he was from.... He said
what
school he was from. He was like, 'What school are you thinking about
going
to?' I was like, 'You know, I've got a couple of choices,' but I didn't
say
any names. He was like, 'If you come to this school, you'll get paid.
I'm
talking hundreds of thousands of dollars, $250,000.' And I was like,
'Oh
yeah?'
"But it ain't worth it. If you do
something
stupid with a school and then after it happens, you get in trouble for
it,
you're like, 'Damn, I wish I didn't do that. It wasn't worth it. I
didn't
get enough out of it for me to get in trouble.' If you've got a chance
to
be a millionaire in a couple of months or in a year, why take a couple
hundred
thousand when it's only going to hurt you and your family?
"But then, what if you do get hurt?
What
if you don't make it? Then you're like, 'Damn, I could've had that.'
It's
a risky situation, and nothing's guaranteed."
Back to the man who made the alleged
$250,000
offer. I asked Telfair for a description, and he said the man was
white.
I asked if the man was old, young, or middle-age. "Middle," he said. "I
don't
know the guy's name.... The person that it was, I was in the gym of
that
school he said he was with."
Telfair wouldn't name the school the
man
said he represented. A person close to Telfair said the man claimed to
represent
the interests of Georgia Tech, the school that had landed two previous
point-guard
greats from New York, Kenny Anderson and Stephon Marbury.
Paul Hewitt, the Georgia Tech head
coach,
dismissed the possibility that any alum or fan at a Georgia Tech home
game
could have approached Telfair with an improper offer. "There's no way
Telfair
came to a game on our campus and didn't come into our locker room,"
Hewitt
said. "If that happened, one of my assistants would've been fired. If
he
came to one of our games, it was an Elvis-like appearance. If he was
down
here, I didn't know it. I think somebody's trying to sex up the story."
Hewitt confirmed that Georgia Tech
briefly
recruited Telfair during his junior year. His assistant, Willie Reese,
tried
to convince Hewitt to go to Lincoln to see the point guard. Hewitt had
seen
Telfair as a sophomore and figured right then and there he would go
straight
to the NBA. "But I had Willie call Stephon and ask him if he thought
Sebastian
would go to school," Hewitt said. "We have these buses on campus that
take
you from one place to another, and we call them the Stinger. Stephon
told
Willie, 'You really think that kid's going to ride a Stinger bus when
he
can be driving a Mercedes? There's no way he's going to school."'
Allison George, Georgia Tech's director
of
sports communications, said that she, too, never saw Telfair at a
Georgia
Tech game and reminded me that a player of Telfair's profile would have
been
almost impossible to miss. But Lincoln assistant Danny Turner said his
brother
did attend a Georgia Tech game, a claim Telfair declined to comment on.
"It
wasn't an official visit," Turner said. "He was down there for
something
else and just went to a game."
Bubba Barker, Telfair's best friend,
confirmed
Turner's account. "Yeah, he went to a Georgia Tech game," Barker said.
"It
was a brief visit, like in and out of there. He said he liked the
people
there a lot." Neither Turner nor Barker could recall which game Telfair
attended.
Of course, someone could have made a
$250,000
offer -- and an empty one at that -- without having any connection to
Georgia
Tech or its basketball program. Whether the alleged offer to Telfair
was
real or a hoax, this much was clear: The Lincoln star was forever in
position
to reject business propositions that could have landed him in trouble.
"I've turned down a lot of things over
the
years," he said.
"Sebastian's just too classy and too
sophisticated
to get bought by anyone," said Andy Miller, the agent hoping to
represent
him.
But Telfair was getting tired of the
dance.
A job in the NBA would end all that, and he would open February with
another
huge game to be witnessed by executives and scouts from every pro team.
Telfair would face Dwight Howard, the
6-foot-11
center from Southwest Atlanta Christian, in the Prime Time Shootout.
This
would be a battle between the most famous high school player in America
and
the best high school player in America. This would be a chance for
Sebastian
Telfair to prove that a 5-foot-11 teenager could survive and thrive in
the
land of the NBA giants.
* * * * * * * * * *
The Prime Time could brag on two
straight
LeBron James appearances.
Jeff Hewitson, who ran the Prime Time,
made
sure he landed Dwight Howard the year after he was through with LeBron.
The
Prime Time would give Howard a chance to secure his position as the
number
one pick in the June draft.
The top player in the Class of 2004
didn't
create half the stir caused by the top player in the Class of 2003 --
LeBron
drove a brand-new Hummer, Howard a 1984 Ford Crown Victoria. But Howard
was
all Cadillac on the court. There wasn't an amateur player in America,
maybe
in the world, who looked so much like a center and handled the ball so
much
like a guard.
"There's no way you can take Emeka
Okafor
ahead of this kid," said one scout from an NBA Central Division team.
"He
can do everything, and you can tell he's a good kid. No tattoos,
clean-cut,
his dad's a state trooper, his uncle's a district attorney.
"Dwight's a slam dunk. He's got the
whole
package."
He also had braces. That's what struck
me
when I first met him: his youth. Howard was so big, so good, and so
sure
to be world famous, I'd forgotten that he was an 18-year-old Finding
Nemo
fan until he smiled and flashed those braces.
Howard had established goals of
becoming
the first black president of the United States, of convincing the NBA
to
make the crucifix part of its league logo, and of becoming a better
player
than LeBron James.
"I think I can surpass him," Howard
said.
He didn't sound inclined to waste any time trying.
"I always wanted to be the first pick
in
the draft," Howard said. "I've worked myself up to where I'm at the
5-yard
line and David Stern is waving his hands saying, 'Come on in for a
touchdown.'
So I don't want to drop the ball."
* * * * * * * * * *
Sebastian Telfair hadn't dropped the
ball
after his Louisville trip; he spent the last 2 weeks of January
breaking
records and getting even. But Telfair did open that stretch by shooting
far
too much in an overtime loss at Grady, scoring 11 of his 34 in the
extra
session and pissing off his teammates in the process.
"This NBA thing is killing us," Nyan
Boateng
told me. "We understood on the (UCLA) trip that Sebastian had to play
for
the NBA scouts, but he's got to play team ball in these games in our
backyard,
when there's no scouts here. That's how we won the state championship
last
year after he fouled out -- by playing team ball."
The following day, Boateng had to be
talked
out of quitting the team by his football coach, Shawn O'Connor, who'd
had
this conversation with his wide receiver many times before. Boateng
always
seemed to get more love from the football coaches in his life. He said
he
received two calls on his cell from Greg Toal, coach of national
powerhouse
Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, New Jersey, asking if he'd be interested in
transferring
to a school that would give him greater exposure. Those calls would be
an
obvious breach of high school rules on recruiting.
Toal denied making the calls. "We don't
do
business like that," he said. 'I never met the kid. I wouldn't even
know
what he looks like. Where is he, in the Bronx? Brooklyn? That would be
a
5-hour commute. Somebody's having fun with this. It sounds like Fantasy Island."
When told of Toal's remarks, Boateng
said,
"Really? He's bugging. I was with him at an awards dinner, and I know
his
son. He definitely called me twice. I guess he doesn't want to make a
big
deal out of it."
At Lincoln, Morton usually didn't want
to
make a big deal out of Boateng's desire to be a central part of
Lincoln's
offense. But this time around, Morton was on Boateng's side. He said he
ripped
into Telfair for playing selfishly and focusing too much on the UCLA
and
Louisville games.
In the get-even games with Cardozo and
Sheepshead
Bay high schools, Telfair returned to his playmaking roots to lead
Lincoln
to victory. It was a temporary adjustment. Aided by Morton's
willingness
to run up the score on hapless opponents, Telfair set a Lincoln
single-game
record with 61 points against the High School of Telecommunication Arts
and
Technology, and then broke Kenny Anderson's New York career scoring
record
of 2,621 points by dropping 49 on Grand Street Campus, this while
Morton
put on a full-court press with the Railsplitters holding a 51-point
lead.
Telfair was rising on everybody's draft
board.
Two days before the Prime Time game, the Los Angeles Clippers' director
of
player personnel, Barry Hecker, and their New York-based scout, Evan
Pickman,
dropped by Lincoln's practice to watch their potential point guard of
the
future.
Pickman was Telfair's biggest fan;
Hecker
was a skeptic who'd been won over at Pauley Pavilion. Telfair was aware
of
their presence. He acted like a playmaker possessed in the first half
of
practice, and when he fired a perfect one-handed bounce pass on the
break
to a streaking teammate, Hecker threw on his black parka and motioned
to
Pickman that it was time to go.
"He's seen enough," Pickman said
through
a smile.
The Clippers would see more in Trenton,
where
Telfair had put on some second-half show the year before against St.
Anthony
of Jersey City, ripping one of the nation's best teams, Jeff Hewitson
recalled,
"with a bone shooting out of his foot."
Rick Pitino sent his assistant, Reggie
Theus,
to monitor the Lincoln-Southwest Atlanta Christian game. Louisville had
lost
its Plan B at the point, Oak Hill's Rajon Rondo, to Kentucky, so the
Cardinals
were hanging on the thinnest hope that Telfair would crap out and
crash-land
in college. But Theus told me he wouldn't ask the Lincoln star if he
was
planning on entering the NBA draft.
"Why would I?" he said. "I don't want
the kid to lie to me, and that's what
he'd have to do."
* * * * * * * * * *
Sebastian Telfair hit Dwight Howard
with
a first-quarter blitz of hesitation drives and jump shots. "He's
quicker
than Isiah Thomas," Theus said as he watched behind the baseline.
"Quicker
than anyone in the NBA?" I asked. "As quick," Theus answered. "It's
like
he's in fast-forward. You can't teach hesitation like that, dipping
your
shoulder... Only the man upstairs can take credit for that."
Telfair completed a 3-point play with
34.2
seconds left to give Lincoln a 20-15 lead. Early in the second quarter,
Telfair
threw a no-look pass to Antonio Pena for a basket, then hit him again
with
one of his Linda Blairs to put Lincoln up by 8 and to leave the fans
and
the NBA executives buzzing in expectation of more.
"No way I'd put Jameer Nelson ahead of
Telfair;
Jameer doesn't have quickness like that," said John Nash, the Portland
GM.
"I have Telfair way ahead of him. Sebastian's already better than Damon
Stoudamire."
"I just saw Jameer Nelson," Randy
Pfund,
the Miami GM, told another executive, "and he's the best point guard in
college
and he can't hold a candle to this kid. Sebastian runs the pick and
roll
better than most point guards in the NBA."
Telfair's quickness and verve would
leave
Howard appearing dizzy, at least until the Southwest Atlanta Christian
center
threw him down on a wild and vain left-handed attempt with 2:30 left in
the
first half. Only 20 seconds later, Telfair struck back with a hanging
layup
to punctuate a crossover so nasty it caused his defender to fall. With
5.5
seconds left and the entire place expecting Telfair to shoot, the
Lincoln
point guard used another brilliant hesitation drive to draw the defense
and
kick out the ball to reserve Jamel Jackson, who drained a 3-pointer to
send
the Prime Time crowd into a tizzy.
"Watching Sebastian in this game," said
Jeff
Lenchiner, CEO of InsideHoops.com, "was like watching a character in a
video
game. He just hit a thrust button and launched himself into warp
speed."
Just like in Los Angeles, Telfair
needed
only one half to dazzle the entire NBA with his explosiveness,
creativity,
and vision. A year after watching from the front row while his friend,
LeBron,
dropped 52 on Westchester High, Telfair was planting his flag in the
Trenton
soil, encouraging the sneaker guys in attendance to drool just as much
as
the scouts.
"He's the people's player at this
tournament,"
said Nike's George Raveling. "He was sitting in the stands before the
game,
and the whole section was filled with people trying to get his
autograph
or to just see what he looks like."
"He has all that drama about him that
makes
him special," said Reebok's Chris Rivers. "We want him. We can't get
any
closer on him without living on Coney Island.... But it's a business
decision,
and Nike gets who they want 95 percent of the time.
"I'd be surprised if he didn't go pro
now,
and that's going to open up dreams for other guys. There's a smaller
eighth-
or ninth-grader who's going to say, 'Shit, if he can do it, I can do
it."'
Telfair slowed down a touch in the
third
quarter as Howard moved his team into position to steal the game. With
1:56
left in the third, there was a moment of open-court truth that might
have
erased any doubt that Howard, and not UConn's Okafor, should be the
first
pick in the June draft. The Southwest Atlanta Christian center grabbed
a
rebound and started dribbling upcourt when Telfair came up to meet him
inside
the midcourt line.
With a simple change of gears and a
subtle
shift to his right, Howard kept his dribble and blew past the Lincoln
point
guard as if he weren't even there. The Warriors took their first lead
in
the fourth quarter, and Howard began to make his mark inside against
the
game Pena and the rugged reserve, Lawrence Alamilla, who hit their
6-foot-11
foe as much as possible to cover for their inability to see him eye to
eye.
"We bodied him and collapsed on him,"
Alamilla
said. "I took some elbows to the back, my face, my neck, and my arms,
but
I didn't back down. I was talking to him, saying, 'You're not going to
the
league. Stay here with me. You're not that good.' He didn't say
anything,
but his facial expression said it all."
As it did on Telfair's bold romp down
the
lane with 54 seconds to play and Southwest Atlanta Christian up by one.
The
Lincoln star took his dribble straight at Howard, launched himself into
the
air, switched the ball from his right hand to his left in a Jordanesque
way,
and made the acrobatic layup while Howard remained glued to the floor.
An exchange of free throws -- one for
Lincoln,
two for Southwest Atlanta Christian -- tied the score and set up the
dramatic
finish. Telfair smiled in anticipation of something he had never before
experienced.
Despite all the winning basketball he'd played in his life, Telfair's
next
buzzer-beater to give his team the victory would be his first.
But what about that smile? "It was like
a
dream," Telfair would say. "I knew a great moment was about to happen."
He was in the right corner, 20 feet
from
Theus, when that great moment left his hands from beyond the 3-point
line
with 5 seconds to play. The Southwest Atlanta Christian guards had made
the
lethal mistake of allowing Telfair to get the ball. Sebastian already
had
27 points to go with his 9 assists. He had no time for his 10th assist,
plenty
of time for his 28th, 29th, and 30th points.
'Those are the moments that make you,"
Telfair
would say. "You can't be scared of those moments."
Telfair hit the 3 and then watched
Southwest
Atlanta Christian hurry up an inbounds pass and a long and vain prayer.
Telfair
tilted his head forward, smiled, and gently wiggled his fingers as if
telling
his teammates to come smother him.
The Railsplitters mobbed Telfair before
he
went off in search of his mother, Erica, for the kind of postgame hug
she
hadn't received all season. Lincoln's last regular season game was the
first
attended by Erica, who felt so burned by the nondraftiing of Jamel
Thomas
that she refused to take part in the winter-long celebration of her
Bassy's
ball-playing gifts.
"I didn't even see the shot," Erica
said.
She was in the bathroom when she heard the building quake. "I came out
and
asked a lady which team won," Erica said. "She said, 'Lincoln.' And I
said,
'Okay.'"
Okay it was. Outside the locker room,
Telfair
said he knew his shot was good the second he released it. Felled by
David's
stone, the vanquished Goliath, Dwight Howard, had become a true
believer.
"I think he's top 10, top 20 for sure,"
Howard
said of Telfair. "Man, I've seen Sebastian play, but I've never seen
him
play like that. I was like, 'Wow.'"
The Telfair family was feeling the same
vibe
in the bowels of the arena, between the court and the loading dock.
Telfair,
Danny Turner, and their mother huddled with Andy Miller for a 15-minute
strategy
session.
The Telfairs asked Miller for
direction,
and the agent-to-be asked for a week or two to come up with a plan. "At
first,
I thought he was a 3- or 4-year college player," Miller said. 'Now he's
talked
about as a possible lottery pick. It's amazing what momentum can do."
And what it can't. Erica emerged from
this
meeting hoping that her son had hit the lottery, but refusing to let
herself
believe it. The pot of gold had been within reach before, only to be
yanked
away like a carrot on a string. She wasn't about to get hurt again.
"It's a tough decision," Erica said,
"but
I believe it would be better for Sebastian to go to Louisville. Give
him
a chance to grow a little more. But if (the NBA) is the Lord's plan,
what
can I say?"
What could Theus say to his boss,
Pitino,
when he delivered the awful news that Telfair was so good at the Prime
Time
Shootout that there was virtually no chance he'd play for Louisville?
Pitino
had been talking by phone to his top recruit on a regular basis. He was
feeling
his own hopes dim with every call.
But the Prime Time performance was the
clincher.
Those 95-to-5 odds Pitino gave in December, when he was almost smug in
his
belief that Telfair would be his point guard, had turned all the way
against
him.
"Sebastian's going pro," Pitino said,
"and
we're resigned to that. I don't mean to sound corny, but you're in this
business
to see young people fulfill their dreams. So I still feel very good
about
Sebastian. He was worth the gamble, because no point guard had ever
made
the jump.
"We're not holding out hope now; I
seriously
do wish him the best. But until he has to declare, you never know
what's
going to happen. A turned ankle, a bad workout, whatever. I told
Sebastian,
'Let's hope for the best. Let's hope you go in the lottery, but let's
keep
all our options open.'"
Copyright © 2005 Ian
O'Connor
Reprinted from: The Jump: Sebastian
Telfair and the High Stakes Business of High School Ball by
Ian O'Connor © 2005 Ian O'Connor.
Permission granted by Rodale, Inc., Emmaus, PA 18098.