Former NBA Point Guard Sebastian Telfair Sentenced 3.5 Years for Gun Possession

Telfair was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in March 2004, becoming the 10th high school athlete to do so since 1966.

Former NBA point guard Sebastian Telfair was sentenced 3.5 years in prison for gun possession on Monday, Brooklyn district attorney Eric Gonzalez announced in a statement on Monday.

Telfair was convicted of criminal possession of a weapon in April after police recovered a gun from his car during a traffic stop arrest in July 2017.

“This defendant exercised his right to a jury trial and was found guilty of possessing an illegal firearm," Gonzalez wrote. "The mandatory prison sentence he received today is required by law and he has now been held accountable for the unlawful conduct."

The Brooklyn native was drafted by the Blazers in the first round of the 2004 NBA draft. He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in March 2004 as a point guard at Lincoln High School.

Ten years ago this week, high school phenom Sebastian Telfair appeared on the cover of SI pic.twitter.com/7ySBlaCZEd

— SI Vault (@si_vault) March 5, 2014

Telfair played for eight teams in his 10-year NBA career, averaging 7.4 points per game. He left the NBA after a short stint with the Thunder in 2014-15.