Sebastian Telfair made millions in the NBA, but unfortunately, he fell into the category of former players who squandered their wealth. So, when Telfair appeared on The Pivot podcast, co-host Channing Crowder wanted to know how he lost all that he earned during his time in the NBA.
“So I played 10 years,” Telfair said. “You said I made 20. We all know about Uncle Sam, right? So what’s that? 10. So that’s about a million a year. That ain’t no money. That’s the real truth. The real truth is I ain’t really make no money. I really ain’t make no money. So people like, ‘Oh, I don’t understand how you go crazy from,’ I’m like, ‘I ain’t make Floyd Mayweather in the money.’
“I didn’t make the type of money where it’s like I’mma go crazy because I don’t have it today,” Telfair continued. “That’s the real truth. If you do the math, that’s a $1 million a year… You got to be a real strategic dude making a million dollars a year and thinking you going to end up with everything on earth.”
Telfair revealed he had to take care of his parents as well as 14 brothers and sisters. He claims he was on the right track at first, but then lost his way.
“The real truth with the money part of it is we ain’t making enough money for it to be sitting the way it’s supposed to be sitting,” Telfair stated. “That’s the real answer to that. But I invested in Philippe Chow… When I first got to the league, I was on the path to do the right things. So I was on the right path. I just got knocked off the path of sitting here with $275 million cash right now.”
One wonders what might have been if Telfair had stayed on the right path. His life had spiraled downward to the point that he had to move back to the Coney Island projects he grew up in before he went to jail in August 2025. This is a man who, according to Spotrac, made $19.1 million in salaries in the NBA.
As for why Telfair found himself behind bars, it was for violating the conditions of his supervised release in connection with his healthcare fraud case. The 40-year-old had pled guilty to defrauding the NBA’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan in 2023.
Telfair spoke about his time in prison on this episode as well, and it’s safe to say he doesn’t want to end up there again. He was released days before Christmas and will be looking to stay out of trouble from now on.
Telfair’s downfall is something not many would have seen coming when he was dazzling at Abraham Lincoln High School. He would then skip college and head to the NBA directly in 2004. The Portland Trail Blazers selected him with the 13th pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, but despite all the hype, he never even came close to becoming a star.
Over his 10 seasons in the NBA, Telfair averaged 7.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game.
