They tell me a lot of things about Sebastian Telfair. About the kid they call Bassy from Coney Island. They say he can do this or he can do that. That he could end up being the best NYC point guard ever. That he's the next Stephon, or excuse me, the first Sebastian. I had to see what all the fuss was about. So off to the adidas ABCD camp in New Jersey I went. "Court 4, far end of the gym," I was told by an adidas rep when I asked about Telfair.

When I get to Court 4, I see the kid. I half-expected a heavenly light to be shining on him at all times. He sure doesn't look like much. Small, compact 5'10" frame. Baby face. Headband. He's off the ball, running along the baseline. Still not much. Then he pops out and gets the ball on the wing. He pounds a couple of left-hand dribbles, goes through his legs to the right and across his body back to the left. He puts a good seven feet between himself and his defender as he lays it cleanly off the glass. The guy he beat is a burner in his own right but a hummingbird could have flapped its wings, oh, three or four times in the time it took for this to happen. Wow. I am beginning to understand and I've only been at the game for 45 seconds.

Each team at the adidas camp is given the name of an NBA team. For example, Sebastian plays for the Knicks. And at this moment the Knicks are down to the Warriors by 10. But that's not important. Neither is the roar coming from the opposite end of the gym. If you turn your head now, you could regret it. Telfair pushes it up-tempo and lets off a bounce pass from halfcourt that touches down at the top of the key, bounces up and finds a teammate cutting to the basket. The group of about 60 players watching can barely contain themselves. Gene Keady, Henry Bibby and Quin Snyder shift nervously on the gym's punishing wooden bleachers. They look like kids with their faces pressed up against a candy-store window. Any dreams of Bassy one day wearing a Purdue, USC or Mizzou jersey are as realistic as purple elephants. Oh, he's going to school alright, just not one of those schools. But still they watch the 15-and-a-half year-old kid with the hideous yellow Kobes.

The Warriors can't miss today. "Man, they're hitting everything," Telfair moans. He decides to slow things down a bit. At the top of the key he controls a right-handed dribble with his left shoulder to the basket while surveying the bodies criss-crossing through the lane. He's waiting for the right moment, like Frogger waiting for the logs to line up so he can cross the road. When things seem to be too clogged up with arms, legs and players who can't get open, he looks away from the basket and fires a behind-the-back bullet with his right hand that hits a teammate directly under the hoop for two. Pandemonium ensues.

He's Haley Joel Osment -- he sees what others can't. But instead of dead people, it's passing lanes on a basketball court. His combination of blinding quickness, ball control and impeccable balance allows him access to any square foot of the court. And as a testament to his maturity he doesn't get caught up in putting on a show of ballhandling tricks in this age of basketball showmanship. No, his game isn't perfect. His jump shot belongs in a police lineup, because it's seriously suspect. But a 15-year-old's J is supposed to be suspect. He does, however, put a good 36 inches between him and the floor on his pull-ups. From three.

I ask a big-time New York AAU coach where he would rank Telfair among the best in the country. After a long pause he says "Probably in the Top 50." You don't say. He sounded a little sore that Telfair wasn't on his AAU team, so his response is understandable. But the fact is, with a big summer he could be the No. 1 player by September. He was Top 50 as an embryo.

With two minutes to go, Telfair's coach motions for him to shoot. "I am," shoots back a frustrated Telfair. Not yet a sophomore and he's being asked to carry the load. In the end his squad loses 72-65. Regardless, he's the best point guard the Knicks have had since Clyde.

They say a lot of things about Sebastian Telfair of Coney Island. This is what I'm saying.

Chris Palmer covers The NBA Life for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at christopher.palmer@espnmag.com.