Bryant Kevin Dunston Jr. (; born May 28, 1986) is an American-born naturalized Armenian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who plays at the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

position for Anadolu Efes of the

Turkish Basketball Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and ...

(BSL) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the senior Armenian national team internationally. Standing at a height of , he won the

EuroLeague Best Defender The EuroLeague Best Defender is an annual basketball award of the European premier level EuroLeague. It is awarded to the best defensive player throughout the season, up until the EuroLeague Final Four stage of the season. The award began in th ...

award twice, and reached the

EuroLeague Final The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is the highest level tier, and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe. Title holders * ......1958 Rīgas ASK * 1958� ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, while playing with

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. In 2011–12, he was the top rebounder in the Israel Basketball Premier League. Dunston earned an

All-EuroLeague Second Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

selection in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Early life

Dunston was born in southern

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

, and grew up in

LeFrak City, Queens LeFrak City (originally spelled Lefrak and pronounced ) is a 4,605-apartment development in the southernmost region of Corona and the easternmost part of Elmhurst, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located between Juncti ...

. He is a graduate of St. John's Preparatory High School. He is the nephew of former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

player

Shawon Dunston Shawon Donnell Dunston (born March 21, 1963) is an American retired professional baseball player. A shortstop, Dunston played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1985 through 2002. Dunston was the first overall pick in the 1982 MLB draft by the ...

, a former No. 1 pick in the

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

College career

Dunston attended

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

, where he played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

with the

Fordham Rams The Fordham Rams are the Varsity team, varsity sports teams for Fordham University. Their colors are maroon and white. The Fordham Rams are members of NCAA Division I and compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. In football, the R ...

. He finished his collegiate career by being named to the First Team All-Metropolitan, Second Team All-

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Easte ...

, and Atlantic 10 Conference All-Defensive Team. In his college career, Dunston appeared in all 120 of Fordham's games, starting in 118 of them. He finished his college career in second place on Fordham's all-time scoring list, with 1,832 career points, in third place on Fordham's all-time

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

list, with 993 career rebounds, and as Fordham's career

blocked shots In basketball, a block or blocked shot occurs when a defensive player legally deflects a field goal attempt from an offensive player to prevent a score. The defender is not allowed to make contact with the offensive player's hand (unless the de ...

leader, graduating with 294 career rejections.

Professional career

Dunston played with

Mobis Phoebus The Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League. History Foundation and amateur era Before the professional Korean Basketball League was established in 1997, domestic basketball was an amateur s ...

in the

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League (KBL; ) is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular season. H ...

. In 2010, he signed with the Greek League club Aris, but left the team in February 2011. After leaving Aris, he signed with the Israeli League club

Bnei HaSharon Bnei Herzliya Basket (, lit. ''Sons of Herzliya''), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in the Sharon district in Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. It ...

. Following the 2010–11 season, Dunston joined the Israeli League club

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club ( he, מועדון הכדורסל הפועל חולון), known for sponsorship reasons as Hapoel Atsmon Playgrounds Holon (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli ...

. In 2011–12, he was the top rebounder in the Israel Basketball Premier League. Reports said that Dunston was on the verge of signing a guaranteed contract with the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. T ...

in the summer 2012. However, he joined the Italian League club

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian first division LBA. For past club spo ...

instead.

Olympiacos

On July 9, 2013, Dunston signed a two-year contract with

. In his first EuroLeague season, he averaged 10.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and league-leading 1.3 blocks over 29 games played. Olympiacos however finished the participation in the EuroLeague by losing 2–3 to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in the

quarter-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

series. On May 6, he was voted the EuroLeague Best Defender of the season. On May 6, 2015, he was named the EuroLeague season's Best Defender for the second season in a row.

Anadolu Efes

On June 23, 2015, Dunston signed a two-year contract with the Turkish club Anadolu Efes. On May 18, 2017, he signed a two-year contract extension with Anadolu Efes. On May 23, 2019, Dunston signed another two-year contract extension with the club. He signed a two-year extension on July 26, 2020, with an option for another year. On November 6, Dunston was ruled out for a month following an eye injury.

National team career

On June 16, 2015, he was included on the list of candidates of the senior

Slovenian national basketball team The Slovenia men's national basketball team ( sl, Slovenska košarkarska reprezentanca) represents Slovenia in international basketball competitions, and is managed by the Basketball Federation of Slovenia. Since the independence of Slovenia in ...

for the

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 Sept ...

, by team selector

Jure Zdovc Jurij "Jure" Zdovc (born 13 December 1966) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player and coach Zdovc Returning to Helm of National Team.] As a player, he was a 1.98 m (6'6") tall point guard, who began his professional playing caree ...

. However, he didn't get a Slovenian passport in time, so he wouldn't represent Slovenia at the EuroBasket. In June 2016, Dunston arrived in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and ...

, to represent the senior

Armenian national basketball team The Armenian national basketball team (, ''Hayastani basketboli azgayin havak'akan'') is the national basketball team representing Armenia. The national team is directed by the Basketball Federation of Armenia. Since 2006, the President of the f ...

in the

2016 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries The 2016 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries was the 15th edition of this tournament. It was hosted by Moldova. Armenia won its first ever gold in this championship by beating Andorra in the final, 79–71. Teams After the withdrawal o ...

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2,

, 29 , , 21 , , 24.7 , , .670 , , .000 , , .566 , , 5.3 , , 1.0 , , 1.1 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 1.3 , , 10.3 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , 29 , , 25 , , 19.4 , , .543 , , .000 , , .618 , , 4.4 , , .6 , , .8 , , 1.1 , , 7.1 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=4, Anadolu Efes , 24 , , 15 , , 21.0 , , .604 , , .000 , , .655 , , 5.0 , , .8 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , 7.9 , , 11.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , 35 , , 34 , , 28.9 , , .551 , , .000 , , .679 , , 6.2 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , 1.1 , , 10.7 , , 14.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , 30 , , 28 , , 28.0 , , .645 , , .333 , , .697 , , 5.4 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 1.7 , , 10.2 , , 15.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , 36 , , 32 , , 26.1 , , .640 , , .333 , , .701 , , 4.9 , , 1.3 , , .8 , , 1.2 , , 8.9 , , 13.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 183 , , 155 , , 25.0 , , .608 , , .250 , , .665 , , 5.2 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , 1.3 , , 9.3 , , 13.3

Awards and accomplishments

College

Rookie of the Year: (2005) * Second Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference: (2005) * First Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference: (2006) * Second Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference: (2007) * First Team All-Metropolitan: (2008) * Second Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference: (2008) * Atlantic 10 Conference All Defensive Team: (2008)

Professional

* Israeli Super League Quintet: (2012) *

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, also commonly referred to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs, or the FIBA Club World Cup, is a professional basketball clubs competition that is endorsed by FIBA and the NBA. Historically, its purpose has be ...

Champion: (2013) * 2×

: (2014, 2015) * Greek League Champion: (2015) * Greek League Best Defender: (2015) * Turkish President's Cup: Winner (2015) * Turkish BSL All-Star: (2017) *

: (2017) *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup (Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

Winner: (

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

)

Early life

College career

Professional career

Olympiacos

Anadolu Efes

National team career

Career statistics

EuroLeague

Awards and accomplishments

College

Professional

References

External links