Just last week, Sebastian Telfair had his No. 31 jersey retired at Lincoln.
A lottery pick by Portland straight out of Coney Island, it’s only natural to toss Telfair into the mix as one of the best point guards ever to come out of the city.
But even with all of his success, Telfair may not be the most famous 31 to hail from Brooklyn. Two decades before him, Dwayne Washington earned the nickname “Pearl” at Boys & Girls for his play that reminded people of Earl Monroe.
Like Telfair, Washington was the 13th pick in the NBA Draft – by the Nets – but unlike the Lincoln star, that didn’t come with a sneaker contract that made him richer than he had ever dreamed.
“It was a lot different in those days,” said Washington, now 41. “The money was good, but nothing like it is today.”
And Washington, who had nothing but success first at Boys and then at Syracuse, discovered the pro game wasn’t what he’d thought it would be.
“College was the best time of my life,” Washington said. “Forget the NBA.”
Washington still regrets his decision to leave Syracuse after his junior year following a loss to St. John’s in the 1986 Big East championship game and a second-round NCAA tournament defeat to David Robinson’s Navy team. The next season, the Orangemen reached the NCAA finals.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Washington said. “I had Derrick Coleman coming in and I left. I wish I had stayed.”
The 6-3 Washington only lasted three years in the NBA, two with the Nets and one with the expansion Miami Heat, and never won more than 24 games in a season. After returning to Syracuse in 1997 to get his degree in communications, Washington now teaches junior high gym in Hempstead.
“That’s what I want to do now,” said Washington, who was at Martin Luther King Jr. H.S. yesterday in midtown, working at the JP Morgan Chase Sports & Arts in Schools Festival. Washington and another former NBA player, Kenny Patterson, were among the people teaching children the basics of basketball. “It’s not just about sports, it’s about teaching kids what to do with their life.”
Washington has figured that out, especially since he nearly died 10 years ago when he had a seizure caused by an undiscovered golf-ball-sized brain tumor.
“People had a lot of expectations of me,” Washington said. “Maybe if I had gone to a better team and didn’t have to play right away, things would have been different.”
He hopes to be able to help give young people the same opportunities he had by getting investments from people like Spike Lee to start an AAU program.
“I wish things had worked better,” Washington said. “But I know I can help other people.”
