Anotehr High Character NBA player

[Bugg]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04212007/news/nationalnews/shooting_foul_nationalnews_lorena_mongelli__clemente_lisi_and_bill_sanderson.htm

'SHOOTING' FOUL

By LORENA MONGELLI, CLEMENTE LISI and BILL SANDERSON

April 21, 2007 -- Coney Island hoops sensation Sebastian Telfair and a pal were busted early yesterday in Westchester after police stopped him for speeding and found a loaded handgun under a seat in his SUV.

Telfair, 21, and pal Al Eden Fuentes, 28, were pulled over at 3:53 a.m. on the Bronx River Parkway in Yonkers after a Westchester County police officer clocked their 2006 Land Rover moving at 77 mph in a 45 mph zone, authorities said.

Telfair, who was driving, offered the officer an expired Florida license, said Kieran O'Leary, spokesman for the Westchester Department of Public Safety.

Fuentes also had no license - losing his driving privileges after he was convicted in a 2001 fatal accident, records show.

When the officer ordered both men out of the car, he noticed the .45-caliber handgun under the driver's seat.

Since neither Telfair nor Fuentes claimed knowledge of the gun, both were charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, O'Leary said.

Telfair also was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and was also slapped with a speeding ticket.

"Mr. Telfair was polite and cooperative with our officers, and several described him as behaving like a gentleman," said O'Leary.

Telfair and Fuentes entered pleas of not guilty in an afternoon session of Yonkers City Court, where a judge set bail for each at $7,500.

Both men made bail last night.

In the courtroom was Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, Telfair's cousin.

"I was there to support my cousin - and that's it," Marbury told The Post. "Hey, s- - - happens. What can I say about it? S- - - happens. He's a young guy."

Telfair refused to comment.

Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck said the "players on the Celtics have been explicitly warned, this year, to obey the team and league gun prohibition as well as state laws. We take this very seriously, and will act accordingly once the facts have been determined."

When Telfair, a Lincoln HS graduate who was the 13th pick in the 2004 NBA draft, was playing for the Portland Trail Blazers last year, a loaded Smith & Wesson belonging to Telfair was found aboard a team plane at Boston's Logan Airport. He was not charged.

bill.sanderson@nypost.com

[ShadowJet35]

That kid made a mistake passing on Pitino and Louisville anyway.

[Bugg]

That kid made a mistake passing on Pitino and Louisville anyway.

I'm sympathetic to the argument that players like Telefair who DGAF about getting a education should turn pro ASAP. Why is basketball any different from hockey, baseball or tennis, other than CBS pays a billion to broadcast March Madness is beyond me.

But if ever a guy needed some perspective and a few years away from the moron hangerson and family and posse all telling him he craps crushed fruit , it was Telefair.Between his negligible size, lousy shooting and zero defense, coupled with an arrogance and stupidity of believing his own hype, he's well on his way to a life of 10-day contracts. And somebody's gonna have to take the hit on this gun, which is a year in jail for him or his friend.

[Arsis]

sucks for him.