Five years ago they were teammates. Daily rivals fighting to earn the lion’s share of the minutes as the starting point guard for the Boston Celtics.
They were splitting time and being utilized interchangeably. However, if one were to leave the floor and proceed to silently root against his hardwood colleague, it would be somewhat understandable. After all, the life of a starter is infinitely more enjoyable than the life of a backup. The difference can be measured in late night talk show appearances, women, and – most importantly – dollars. Millions and millions and millions of dollars.
It was 2006 and Sebastian Telfair and Rajon Rondo were teetering between NBA stardom and NBA mediocrity. Each just a few months shy of their 21st birthday, not yet adults, but professionals nonetheless. Same statistics, same lack of trust from their teammates, same mixture of bravado and insecurity. They were nearly equals.
Yet, within a few months, their basketball lives would go in opposite directions.
Remarkably, this wasn’t the first time their roads intersected.
Three years prior to joining the Celtics, the two lead guards were standouts on the high school hoops circuit. “Bassy” was a New York City legend. The cousin of Stephon Marbury, Telfair was the first player ever invited to the prestigious ABCD sneaker camp – a gathering of the elite high school players in the country – prior to his freshman year. He wasn’t just the top-ranked point guard in Coney Island, he was the top-ranked point guard in the nation. His senior year was the subject of well-known sports writer Ian O’Connor’s first book and a documentary that eventually aired on ESPN.
Down south, Rondo was dazzling recruiters as a member of Oak Hill Academy’s renowned basketball squad. As a native of Louisville, Rondo wanted to play for Rick Pitino’s Cardinals.
But Pitino had his eyes on Telfair, almost obsessively so. Telfair had watched Marbury earn an unfathomable salary and multiple endorsement deals, and young prodigy was fully aware of how a professional contract could uplift his family. It was no secret that he dreamed of making a direct preps-to-pros leap, yet it didn’t deter Pitino from recruiting him. Recklessly. The Louisville coach was infatuated with the New York point guard and Telfair, who adored the flattery, agreed to play for Pitino.
As fate would have it, Pitino would miss out on both of them.
Feeling spurned by the adulation for his counterpart, Rondo signed with Kentucky, Louisville’s greatest rival. Telfair declared for the NBA Draft soon thereafter and was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 13th overall pick, becoming – at six-feet – the shortest player ever drafted straight out of high school.
Rondo spent the next two collegiate seasons as a wildly athletic – yet underperforming – lead guard in a half-court system that was ill-suited to take advantage of his unique skill set. Telfair spent the next two professional seasons struggling to find maturity and a regular spot in the Blazers rotation. Portland fined him when he brought a loaded handgun onto the team plane. Soon Telfair was on the trading block.
When Rondo entered the draft upon the completion of his sophomore year, he was chosen 21st by the Phoenix Suns. Moments later, the Suns dealt him to Boston. It was a busy day for the Celtics front office as they later made a deal for another point guard, Sebastian Telfair.
Their one season in green together was uneventful, aside from the repetitive losing, as the team won just 24 games and finished dead last in the Eastern Conference. While each player showed flashes of quality play, neither stood out during the season. Cutting one loose seemed to be an obvious choice, but which would it be? Telfair made the decision easy. At season’s end, he was arrested and charged with felony possession of a weapon when police found a loaded handgun in his car after he was pulled over for speeding.
A few months later, Telfair was shipped with to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of a five-player deal that sent Kevin Garnett to the Celtics. Rondo would now be the sole point guard in charge of running the show and he would get to do so with an impressively revamped roster. Before adding Garnett, Boston had also acquired Ray Allen from the Seattle SuperSonics.
Rondo exploded with his new teammates and helped direct them to an NBA Championship in their very first year together. Boston failed to reach the NBA Finals in 2009, yet Rondo was glorious in defeat, posting three triple-doubles in the postseason. Last year, he signed a five-year contract extension worth $55 million guaranteed and, since taking over the starting role, he has become a two-time all-star and set franchise records for assists and steals in a season.
During that same span, Telfair was traded by Minnesota, traded twice more, and is now back with the Timberwolves, the team with the worst record in the NBA. Telfair is primarily a backup. He’s also a walking example of how cruel fate can be.
These two men have shared expectations, a job, and a glorious future. But now all of those things belong to just one of them.
awesome story
Well written! It shows you’re a real fan of the game.