Sebastian Telfair Pleads For Donald Trump Pardon Hours Before Reporting To Prison

Sebastian Telfair tells TMZ Sports he wants Donald Trump to help him avoid a lengthy stay behind bars this year.

The former NBA star is scheduled to report to prison on Tuesday ... after he violated the conditions of his supervised release in his healthcare fraud case -- but he's hoping No. 45/47 can get him out of it.

Telfair said he believes the whole situation is "definitely some bulls***" ... and he's confident if POTUS hears his story, he can avoid the six-month prison sentence he's about to begin serving in a matter of hours.

"Trump," he told us out in New York City on Monday, "go check in on my story and you're definitely going to want to pardon me. You'll hold me accountable and want me to continue to go do good. But I did too good to being sending anybody to jail."

Telfair was one of several former NBA players -- including Glen "Big Baby" Davis -- who were accused of running a scheme that swindled loads of cash out of the Association's healthcare plan.

He was at first sentenced to time served plus three years of supervised release -- but he was re-sentenced this summer to six months in prison after he allegedly failed to satisfy the terms of his release.

Telfair told us the whole matter surrounded an issue with "paperwork," and he's clearly upset over it.

"It's super unfair," he said.

But if Trump is unable to come through with the pardon, Telfair insisted to his family, friends and fans he's going to spend the time behind bars improving himself ... and working on his book.

"I'm definitely mad I put myself in this situation," he said. "But we definitely have got some wins coming."