Sebastian Telfair’s journey to NBA stardom appears to have been a round trip, as it finally ended back where it all began.
“I played in the NBA for over 10 years and made hundreds of millions of dollars. I had everything I ever dreamed of,” Telfair revealed in the YouTube video caption. Sebastian Telfair: The Last Days of Freedom (1). “But after a series of legal issues and personal problems, my life became something I could never have imagined.
“I’m right back where it all started — back to Coney Island, back to the projects, back to the fire.”
From millionaire status to essentially going on the break, Telfair’s cautionary tale provides a sobering reality check about the sudden fragility of wealth for young high-income earners.
During his NBA career, Telfair – affectionately known as “Basy” – earned an estimated $19 million according to Sportrac (2). He also had some endorsement deals from companies like Adidas, who signed Telfair to a contract worth over $10 million when the promising Hooper’s career took off in the mid-2000s (3).
By all accounts, the point guard seemed set for life, but a series of legal issues after retirement seriously damaged his fortune. In 2017, Telfair was arrested in New York after a routine traffic stop led police to find marijuana and several guns in his vehicle (4).
Two years later, his wife, Samantha, filed for divorce, which added another layer of financial stress. Then, in 2021, Telfair was one of 18 former NBA players indicted in a health care fraud case tied to the NBA’s benefits scheme (5).
Without a steady source of income in retirement and facing a long list of legal fees, it wasn’t long before Telfair ran out of money.
“The fight with the Fed and my divorce affected my finances. Now I’m broke and running,” Telfair said in the documentary, standing outside the Surfside Gardens projects in Coney Island, Brooklyn, where he grew up.
“This is the same building right here that you guys watched go up in flames. It’s crazy, going through my entire NBA journey, going through everything I’ve been through, and coming back to the same place.”
Read more: Vanguard reveals what could be coming for US stocks, and it’s ringing alarm bells for retirees. Here’s why and how to protect yourself
For young high-income professionals, Telfair’s return to projects underscores a distinction that some may fail to understand: Income is not the same as wealth.
If you’re at the height of your career in a relatively lucrative industry like tech, finance or law, it’s easy to feel rich and invincible. But the combination of lifestyle inflation and debt can leave you with little or no savings, which can be dangerous if you find yourself suddenly faced with a personal or legal emergency.
According to a 2025 survey by The Harris Poll (6), 29% of people making more than $200,000 a year said they are either struggling to keep up, falling behind or simply covering the basics with no room for error. In fact, nearly 31% of respondents said an unexpected emergency or one-time expense had recently drained their finances.
That unexpected emergency or one-time expense can lead to divorce, and researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that divorce reduces average earnings by 9% for women and 17% for men (7). And like Telfair, high-income earners can struggle to recover financially after a messy split.
Although there are many legal tricks to protect yourself during a divorce—including litigation insurance or postnuptial agreements—there are also some financial tricks that anyone can do to protect their money.
For starters, try to avoid the temptation to increase your lifestyle as your paychecks grow. Lifestyle creep—the tendency to spend as one’s income increases—is a thing, and it can easily destroy economic progress if you let it.
Next, try to reduce debt, especially the high-interest variety. This will allow you to reduce your exposure while having money set aside for an emergency fund, which can act as a shock absorber when you incur unexpected expenses.
Once you cross a certain threshold of income, preserving wealth is as important as creating it.
We rely only on vetted sources and reliable third-party reporting. For details, see our Editorial ethics and guidelines.
Antoinette Media – YouTube (1); Sports (2); Basketball Network (3); Reuters (4); NBA.com (5); Harris Pole (6); Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (7)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
