Sebastian Telfair, LeBron James’ Slam Cover partner 22 years ago, breaks silence on equation with 4x NBA champion
Sebastian Telfair and LeBron James were two of the most promising basketball players in 2000. Telfair was an eighth grader while James was a freshman when they went up against each other in the Adidas ABCD camp. In 2002, Slam Magazine featured the youngsters on the cover and titled it, “The Takeover.”
James eventually built a Hall of Fame resume while Telfair was out of the NBA after playing for the OKC Thunder during the 2014-15 season. “King James” during that time was involved in the start of a bitter rivalry with the Golden State Warriors for league supremacy.
Two years after his retirement, Sebastian Telfair was arrested after loaded guns and marijuana were found in his vehicle while in New York City. In 2019, he was found guilty of “felonious weapons possession” and sentenced to three and a half years of imprisonment.
The former Portland Trail Blazers point guard appeared on the “It Is What It Is” podcast to share his colorful journey. When asked by the rapper Ma$e if he could still call on LeBron James and another hip-hop legend Jay-Z, Telfair responded:
(55:50 mark)
“Nah. Nah. Nah. I’m not to blame it on nobody but nah. I hollered at Rich Paul, I hollered at Rich Paul [and] I tried to contact and reach out to them, but you know already how it is. You know how it goes so we gotta get back into the loop and do our thing.
“It’s been quiet. I was never in that situation where I needed people that way like Bron [James] and one of them popped up showing some type of love. Yeah, that would have definitely helped but I’m not that type of dude. … If the shoe was on the other foot, I would have popped up and made sure everything was straight.”
When Sebastian Telfair played in high school his games were sometimes watched by the biggest stars in sports and entertainment. In one of those games, LeBron James and Jay-Z were in the arena cheering the Abraham Lincoln high school standout.
Sebastian Telfair’s off-court issues that may have seen LeBron James cut him off
LeBron James has never been involved in an off-court controversy in his 21 years in the NBA. Sebastian Telfair had his on more than one occasion. Telfair’s first run-in with the law was in 2007 when he was charged with felony possession of a weapon. The then Boston Celtics guard pleaded guilty and was handed a three-year probation as punishment. He was suspended by the league for three games for his actions.
The 2017 incident was perhaps the last straw in the relationship between James and Telfair. Among those found in the former high school star’s possession were loaded handguns, a semi-automatic rifle and bags of marijuana. “King James” wouldn’t be within a mile of that controversy.
Sebastian Telfair was again involved in another infamous headline in 2021. He and 18 former NBA players were indicted for defrauding the league’s health and welfare benefit plan for reportedly $4 million. LeBron James, who has a squeaky-clean image, would unsurprisingly also stay away from that.