Through the fire

So it finally came in the mail and I jumped on it. It was the most anticipated mail I’ve received this year. What was it?

Through the fire, the story of Sebastien Telfair’s last year as a high schooler. Sebastien Telfair for all you non bball people out there is the most hyped point guard out of NYC since Kenny Anderson. And since New York considers itself to be the capital city of basketball that’s a lot of hype.

If you don’t care for basketball feel free to skip this part

I first heard about him 5 years ago. When I saw the documentary ESPN the Life (Man! What happened to that show?). They were doing a show on the infamous Adidas ABCD basketball camp. Again for all you non bball people out there, the ABCD camp is one of the most prestigious basketball camps that a high schooler could go to. It’s invitation only and it’s a chance for the best high schoolers in the US to play against each other and create a buzz for themselves. And get their name out there a little bit. In fact it can be a real opportunity, that’s where Tracy McGrady had a breakout performance and he went from an unknown sleepy eyed kid from some high school in Florida to being drafted by the Toronto Raptors, you know the rest…
So yeah 5 years ago, the star of that camp was hands down Lebron James a 6’6 very muscular and big athletic looking 10th grader, rocking a nappy fro(Bring back the fro Lebron!). Dude was coming down the court full speed with his off hand and threw a Magic Johnsonesque no-look pass, I didn’t need to see no more I knew the kid was special (It’s the little things). But what intrigued me more was the highlights of a scrawny little 9th grader kid who just blew by his older, more experienced opponents and put down the sickest spin move accompanied with a reverse lay up that I’ve ever seen. I was thinking to myself, how can a ninth grader be invited to the ABCD camp? And he’s so small and he’s dominating! This kid must be good. So since then I kept my eye out for him.

And then I was reminded of the hype when a few summers ago, on a trip to New York I decided to go to Rucker Park to watch what happens there. Unfortunately, that day, nothing much was happening there except some high school bball tournament. But the people on the bench were entertaining enough. And all they seemed to talk about was this Sebastien Telfair kid. I clearly remember one of the people who played against him or coached against him saying “He’s the fastest kid I’ve ever seen but with controlled speed…” whatever that means. But they talked enough about him for me to be intrigued. And then next thing you know he was the first high-schooler ever (Along with Lebron James) to grace the cover of Slam Magazine as an 11th grader! And I trust Slam because they were the first to talk about Lebron waaay before the hype bandwagon came along.

Ok you can read now
Fast forward,
since then Sebastien Telfair has been drafted and is there wasting away on Portland’s bench victim to Nate McMillan’s poor coaching/mentoring and Lebron James… well if you haven’t heard about Lebron by now, you really must not follow basketball. But until that dvd came from heaven to my P.O. box, I hadn’t gotten the chance to watch Bassy play. And watching him play would be a treat because basically to me he’s an And 1 player who is actually fundamentally sound. The best of both worlds.

So I was eagerly awaiting my chance to feast on some great basketball highlights, little did I know…

I knew about the hype, the fact that he holds the scoring record for the state of NY high school bball. I knew about the Shoe deal, the fact that he’s Starbury’s cousin, the fact that Jay z actually went to his high school games. The fact that his showdown against Dwight Howard was the second ever high school bball game to be televised on ESPN. I’d heard about the blinding quickness, the flair, the style, the hype…

But I didn’t know about the HOOD!!!!

I didn’t know that Coney Island (NY) was in the projects(ok I did but it would mess up my writing flow).
I didn’t know that Sebastien had an elder brother, Jamel Thomas who went to Providence led the Big East in scoring but went undrafted on draft day despite high expectations.
I didn’t know that Sebastien at times, had to share his one bedroom apartment with 13 other kids.
I didn’t know that sometimes he was so poor that he had to borrow his elder sister’s shoes to go play basketball.
I didn’t know that said Jamel Thomas was the first one in his family to get a University degree.
I didn’t know that his eldest brother, who was basically, Sebastien’s mentor didn’t even boast a high school diploma but made sure every one after him got one.
I didn’t know that Sebastien and Jamel had to borrow their friends’ cars just to go and work out. I didn’t know that someone got shot right in front of his door in his hall in his apartment building during his senior year.
I didn’t know that Jamel’s salary as a basketball player in Greece was supporting the whole family.
I didn’t know that Sebastien was being looked at by EVERYBODY in Coney Island as the Kid who would make it out of “the ghetto”
I didn’t know that not only did he have to face all the intense media scrutiny, but as an 18 year old he had to face the pressure of being a provider for his family….

I know now that he got drafted #13 by Portland, as the first player ever under 6feet tall to get drafted straight out of high school and he has now signed a multimillion dollar deal with Adidas.

To all the “overrated” whispers, I would like to remind you that Sebastien Telfair is a skinny 5”11 kid who can’t even dunk a basketball. Through determination and hard work he managed to pull his whole family out of a life of poverty. Even if he never makes an all star team, never makes the hall of fame, never starts for Portland, or never even scores another basket in the NBA. He’s underrated in my mind...