##BORN READY!##
I like many young people at the time was a fan of Sebastian Telfair in highschool. I remember the hype surrounding him the record he broke, the celebs like Jay-Z appearing at his televised game and the consensus that he was going to be the next big thing and one of the great in a long line of great PG's to come from NYC's streetball/playground tradition. Flash forward today and as of right now I don't even think Sebastian Telfair is on an NBA roster. But shorty after Telfair exited Lincoln Prep's gym a and entered the ranks of the NBA(I thought college would've been great for him but I understood his personal situation) there was talk of another player from Telfair's hood who was better than Telfair! A young kid they called "Born Ready" the player who bested Telfair and is currently the all-time leading scorer in New York school history! Considering that names of guys like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tiny Archibald, Stephon Marbury, Kenny Anderson and so many, many great names and players have came out of NYC for him to be #1 is just awe-inspiring. The first time I saw Lance Stephenson play was at the 2007 Elite 24 Classic game broadcasted on ESPN which showcased some of the nation's best HS talent on display at one of the most revered and legendary courts which is Rucker Park in Harlem, NY. Check the game out:
I was amazed as you can see at this 6'4 200 pound kid who was ruggedly built with a smooth jumper and crowd pleasing ball handling ability that most shooting guards are not supposed to have. But the rep early on was that even though he was obviously phenom he garnered the reputation as being very difficult to coach do to his arrogance and poor attitude and he got into some off court legal trouble(which I will not discuss) as well which also plagued his only season in college as Cincinnati things were not looking well for the young man. Nonetheless, he was drafted by Pacers in the 2010 draft and after rocky start he's found a perfect home in Indiana and now at very "beastly" 6'5 225 pounds complete with a polished jumper and all around skills he's starting to live back up to his nickname as "Born Ready!" Lance Stephenson has arrived and that spells even more trouble for Miami as the Pacers seek to dethrone the champs and make their trip to the NBA Finals.
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