Steven Deon Hunter (born October 31, 1981) is 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

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 Proviso East High School is a public secondary school in Maywood, Illinois which serves the educational needs of Maywood and three other villages within Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois: Broadview, Forest Park and Melrose Park. It is th ...

, which has produced other NBA players such as Sherell Ford, Michael Finley, Jim Brewer, Doc Rivers, 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 at the University of Colorado. ...

Reggie Jordan Reginald Jordan (born January 26, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he attended Proviso East High School, in Maywood, Illinois. The 6'4" (1.93 m) and 195 lb (88 kg) guard wen ...

, 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. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

in Chicago, before declaring himself eligible for the

2001 NBA draft The 2001 NBA draft took place on June 27, 2001 in New York City, New York. Kwame Brown became the first high school player to be drafted with the first overall pick in the history of the NBA. The selection of Kwame Brown by the Washington Wizards, ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

. 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 inj ...

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. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Pacific Division (NBA), P ...

, 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 league's Western Conference ...

. 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 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 contract at present but who is a ...

. They traded him to the

New Orleans Hornets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

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

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

. On February 10, Philadelphia president Billy King announced that the Hornets rescinded the deal. On September 10, 2007, Hunter was traded with

Bobby Jones Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a const ...

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 league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

for

Reggie Evans Reggie is a given name, usually a short form of the name Reginald. It may refer to: People * Reggie Bonnafon (born 1996), American football player * Reggie Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Reggie Bush (born 1985), National Football ...

and the draft rights to

Ricky Sanchez Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

. On August 7, 2009, the Nuggets traded Hunter and a lottery-protected

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

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 ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In 2014, Hunter would become the Phoenix Suns' ambassador throughout the community in Arizona.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...

, 53 , , 21 , , 9.7 , , .456 , , .000 , , .585 , , 1.8 , , .1 , , .1 , , .8 , , 3.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 33 , , 5 , , 13.5 , , .544 , , .000 , , .409 , , 2.8 , , .2 , , .3 , , 1.1 , , 3.9 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 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, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, 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 consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, 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

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2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

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

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

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

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

, 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

NBA.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Steven 1981 births Living people African-American basketball players 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 (basketball) 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people