Steven Deon Hunter (born October 31, 1981) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He is listed as a center. He most recently played for Dinamo Sassari.

High school and college career

Hunter played basketball at Proviso East High School, which has produced other NBA players such as Sherell Ford,

Michael Finley Michael Howard Finley (born March 6, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who is the assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He ...

, Jim Brewer,

Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An NBA player for 14 seasons, he was an NB ...

, Dee Brown,

Donnie Boyce Donald Nathaniel Boyce (born September 2, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who currently works as head coach for Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois. He played college basketball for the Colorado Buffaloes. ...

, Reggie Jordan, Shannon Brown, Sterling Brown, and Jevon Carter. Hunter then played two years at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

in Chicago, before declaring himself eligible for the 2001 NBA draft.

Professional career

As a rookie, Hunter set a then-career high points total with 17 points on December 5, 2001, in a 102–74 win over the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

. In 2002 during training camp with the Magic he suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

and missed 49 games of the 2002–2003 NBA season. On April 24, 2005, then on the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

, Hunter scored a postseason career high 16 points, alongside grabbing 5 rebounds, in a 114–103 victory over the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

. Hunter and the Suns would ultimately make it to the Western Conference Finals before losing to the Spurs. In the 2005 offseason, he signed with the 76ers as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. They traded him to the

New Orleans Hornets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

on February 1, 2006, in exchange for two second-round draft picks in 2006 and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. On February 10, Philadelphia president Billy King announced that the Hornets rescinded the deal. On September 10, 2007, Hunter was traded with Bobby Jones by the 76ers to the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

for Reggie Evans and the draft rights to Ricky Sanchez. On August 7, 2009, the Nuggets traded Hunter and a lottery-protected

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

first-round draft pick to the

for a future second-round pick. Hunter's final NBA game was played on February 6, 2010, in a 102–109 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves where he recorded 2 points and 1 rebound in 5 minutes of play. In October 2011 he signed with Dinamo Sassari in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In 2013, Hunter became a community liaison for the NBA and the Phoenix Suns throughout the community in Arizona.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" , Orlando , 53 , , 21 , , 9.7 , , .456 , , .000 , , .585 , , 1.8 , , .1 , , .1 , , .8 , , 3.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Orlando , 33 , , 5 , , 13.5 , , .544 , , .000 , , .409 , , 2.8 , , .2 , , .3 , , 1.1 , , 3.9 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Orlando , 59 , , 23 , , 13.4 , , .529 , , .000 , , .333 , , 2.9 , , .2 , , .1 , , 1.2 , , 3.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Phoenix , 76 , , 3 , , 13.8 , , .614 , , .000 , , .479 , , 3.0 , , .2 , , .1 , , 1.3 , , 4.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 69 , , 35 , , 19.0 , , .601 , , .000 , , .514 , , 3.9 , , .2 , , .2 , , 1.1 , , 6.1 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 70 , , 41 , , 22.9 , , .577 , , .000 , , .490 , , 4.8 , , .4 , , .2 , , 1.1 , , 6.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, 19 , , 2 , , 6.3 , , .536 , , .000 , , .450 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , .0 , , .3 , , 2.1 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Memphis , 21 , , 0 , , 7.5 , , .395 , , .000 , , .528 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .5 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 400 , , 130 , , 15.0 , , .560 , , .000 , , .485 , , 3.2 , , .2 , , .1 , , 1.1 , , 4.5

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, align="left" , Orlando , 7 , , 0 , , 5.7 , , .300 , , .000 , , .000 , , .4 , , .1 , , .0 , , .4 , , .9 , - , align="left" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, align="left" , Phoenix , 15 , , 0 , , 14.2 , , .558 , , .000 , , .600 , , 2.5 , , .2 , , .1 , , 1.2 , , 4.0 , - , align="left" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 2.5 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 24 , , 0 , , 10.8 , , .500 , , .000 , , .522 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , .0 , , .9 , , 2.8

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Steven 1981 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Centers (basketball) Denver Nuggets players DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball players Dinamo Sassari players Memphis Grizzlies players Orlando Magic draft picks Orlando Magic players Philadelphia 76ers players Phoenix Suns players Power forwards