Kevin Xavier Punter Jr. (born June 25, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

and the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. In addition to being a citizen of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Punter also has Serbian citizenship. After playing two years each of

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

State Fair Community College State Fair Community College is a public community college in Sedalia, Missouri, adjacent to the Missouri State Fairgrounds. In addition to the Sedalia campus, there are extended campus locations in Boonville, Lake of the Ozarks, Clinton, War ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, Punter went undrafted in the

2016 NBA draft The 2016 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2016, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN, and was live streamed for the first time in NBA draft history by The Vertical. National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

. He started his professional career in Europe, where he has played for elite teams like

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

, and Partizan.

College career

After high school, Punter played

, from 2012 to 2014, and at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, with the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

. In his senior year at Tennessee, Punter averaged 22.1 points per game, and 3.4 rebounds per game. Though he missed five games of SEC Conference play, he was named Second Team All-SEC, after finishing with the third-highest scoring average (22.1 points per game), and the fourth-highest free-throw percentage (.853), during conference league games.

Professional career

Early years

After failing to be drafted in the

, Punter played with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

in the

2016 NBA Summer League The 2016 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week ...

. In 2016, he signed with

Lavrio Lavrio, Lavrion or Laurium (; (later ); from Middle Ages until 1908: Εργαστήρια ''Ergastiria'') is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Greece. It is part of Athens metropolitan area and the seat of the municipality of Lavreotiki ...

of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

for 40.000 eur per year. He played in 21 games for Lavrio, averaging 12.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game. On March 27, 2017, he left Lavrio, and signed with the

Antwerp Giants Antwerp Giants, named Windrose Giants Antwerp for sponsorship reasons, is a Belgian professional basketball club based in Antwerp. Their home arena is Lotto Arena. The club plays in the BNXT League, the highest tier of Belgian basketball. The c ...

, until the end of the season. In July 2017, he signed with

Rosa Radom Rosa Radom, also known as HydroTruck Radom for sponsorship reasons, is a Polish professional basketball team based in Radom. The club was founded in 2003 and plays in the I Liga since the 2022–23 season. History In the 2011–12 season of the ...

. He played in 16 games with Rosa Radom, and went on to average 20.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in the FIBA Basketball Champions League. His very good performances gained the interest of the

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

club

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

, in February but the player didn't leave the team.

AEK Athens

On February 10, 2018, he moved to

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

for the rest of the season. With AEK, he won the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

title, in 2018. On May 6, 2018, Punter also won the

FIBA Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefor ...

title. In the final, Punter was one of the best players of his team, scoring 16 points. Over 11

games, Punter averaged 11.4 points and 2.3 rebounds on 44% shooting from the field.

Virtus Bologna (2018–19)

On July 6, 2018, Punter signed a deal with

for the 2018–19 season. He led the team to winning the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...

crown by posting 21 points and eight rebounds in the semifinal over

Brose Bamberg Bamberg Baskets is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia/North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup six times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...

, plus 27 points and seven rebounds in the Final against

Iberostar Tenerife Club Cantera Base 1939 Canarias S.A.D., commonly known as CB Canarias and known as La Laguna Tenerife for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Domestically, the team plays in the top- ...

. He claimed MVP of the Final Four, after also being named to the competition's Star Lineup.

Olympiacos (2019)

On June 28, 2019, Punter signed a two-year contract with the Greek

club

. On December 24, 2019, he was released by Olympiacos. Three days later, he signed with the Serbian EuroLeague club

for the rest of the season. On February 11, 2020, Punter obtained a

Serbian passport Serbian passport () is the primary document of international travel issued to nationals of Serbia. Passports are issued and renewed by the Police of Serbia, Serbian Police on behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbia), Ministry of Inter ...

and Serbian citizenship.

Olimpia Milano (2020–2021)

On June 18, 2020, Punter signed with the Italian

club

. With Olimpia, he appeared in 36 EuroLeague games, and averaged 14.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Olimpia managed to reach the 2021 EuroLeague Final Four, where they won the third place.

Partizan (2021–2024)

On July 2, 2021, Punter signed a two-year contract with Partizan of the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...

and the EuroCup. During the 2022-23 season, Partizan was eliminated by

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in a tight EuroLeague playoffs series. The playoff series was marred by controversy as a major fight broke out in Game 2, involving players from both teams and resulting in the game being suspended. Punter received a 2 game suspension for his role in the incident. Over the season, Punter averaged 16.1 points, 2.5 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game. Partizan ended the 2022–23 season by lifting the

championship trophy, after a 3–2 winning series over Crvena zvezda in the finals. In the fifth decisive game, Punter scored 32 points, recorded 5 rebounds and 2 assists and was awarded the ABA League Finals MVP. On June 29, 2023, after negotiations with both Panathinaikos and

, Punter renewed his contract with Partizan for another two years. Over the 2023–24 season, Punter averaged 15 points, and a career-high 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists over 28 EuroLeague games. The season was deemed to be unsuccessful for Partizan as they finished the season without lifting any trophy. Despite having one more year left in his contract, Punter was released by Partizan in June 2024.

FC Barcelona (2024–present)

On June 19, 2024, Punter signed a one-year contract with

and

. In October 2024, he earned a Euroleague Basketball's MVP honors for October. He averaged 18.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals. On April 1, 2025,

announced a three year extension of Punter's contract, linking him to the Catalans until 2028. The announcement highlighted Punter's offensive impact for Barcelona, leading the team in

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

and performance index rating in the

regular season.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 3 , , 10.7 , , .300 , , .179 , , .700 , , 1.9 , , .8 , , .5 , , .1 , , 6.8 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 0 , , 22.1 , , .477 , , .481 , , .894 , , 1.1 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , .1 , , 15.9 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 33 , , 24.7 , , .456 , , .392 , , .894 , , 1.6 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , .1 , , 14.3 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", Partizan , 37 , , 24 , , 27.9 , , .469 , , .443 , , .917 , , 2.1 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 16.1 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , 28 , , 24 , , 29.1 , , .463 , , .350, , .902 , , 2.6 , , 2.6 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 15.0 , , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2024–25 , style="text-align:left;",

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, 37 , , 33 , , 27.0 , , .539 , , .386, , .944 , , 2.2 , , 3.0 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , 16.6 , , 16.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 161 , , 117 , , 26.0 , , .507 , , .391 , , .907 , , 2.0 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 15.0 , , 13.5

EuroCup

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", Partizan , 17 , , 15 , , 27.1 , , .460 , , .289 , , .875 , , 2.8 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 16.2 , , 16.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 17 , , 15 , , 27.1 , , .460 , , .289 , , .875 , , 2.8 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 16.2 , , 16.5

Basketball Champions League

, - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , 14 , , 31.2 , , .435 , , .357 , , .771 , , 3.4 , , 1.6 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , 21.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 0 , , 23.1 , , .470 , , .419 , , .680 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 15.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 20 , , 27.0 , , .449 , , .418 , , .807 , , 3.3 , , 1.6 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 15.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 40 , , 34 , , 27.9 , , .445 , , .394 , , .770 , , 3.2 , , 1.5 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 17.7

Domestic leagues

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:right;" ! Year ! Team ! League ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;",

HEBA A1 The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the Hellenic Basketball Associat ...

, , 21 , , 23.2 , , .445 , , .432 , , .800 , , 2.4 , , .9 , , .9 , , .1 , , 12.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", PBL , , 15 , , 23.3 , , .390 , , .302 , , .868 , , 3.1 , , 1.6 , , 1.7 , , .1 , , 11.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", PLK , , 20 , , 29.9 , , .482 , , .370 , , .819 , , 4.6 , , 2.3 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 19.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;",

, , 13 , , 19.6 , , .430 , , .356 , , .872 , , 2.1 , , .8 , , .9 , , .1 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", LBA , , 29 , , 26.5 , , .418 , , .345 , , .894 , , 2.9 , , 1.5 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;",

ABA ABA may refer to: Aviation * AB Aerotransport, former Scandinavian airline * IATA airport code for Abakan International Airport in Republic of Khakassia, Russia Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, Uni ...

, , 8 , , 19.3 , , .419 , , .360 , , .929 , , 1.5 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , .1 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", LBA , , 28 , , 21.9 , , .414 , , .395 , , .844 , , 1.6 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 11.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , , style="text-align:left;", Partizan , , style="text-align:center;",

, , 32 , , 25.7 , , .417 , , .350 , , .885 , , 2.4 , , 3.1 , , .8 , , .0 , , 12.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:left;", Partizan , , style="text-align:center;",

, , 36 , , 22.0 , , .496 , , .405 , , .891 , , 1.9 , , 2.7 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , , style="text-align:left;", Partizan , , style="text-align:center;", KLS , , 4 , , 18.0 , , .576 , , .545 , , .667 , , 2.5 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .2 , , 11.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , , style="text-align:left;", Partizan , , style="text-align:center;",

, , 27 , , 21.9 , , .412 , , .333 , , .912 , , 2.1 , , 2.7 , , .8 , , .1 , , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2024–25 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", ACB , , 35 , , 23.0 , , .488 , , .462 , , .908 , , 1.8 , , 2.2 , , .9 , , .1 , , 14.1

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 31 , , 31.0 , , .419 , , .352 , , .685 , , 2.1 , , 1.9 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 26 , , 26 , , 34.1 , , .460 , , .369 , , .817 , , 3.4 , , 3.5 , , 1.4 , , .2 , , 22.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 58 , , 57 , , 32.4 , , .443 , , .362 , , .776 , , 2.7 , , 2.6 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 15.6

Awards and accomplishments

College career

* Second-team All- SEC: (2016)

Pro career

*2 x

Champion: (

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

) *

Basketball Champions League Final Four MVP The Basketball Champions League Final Four MVP, or FIBA Champions League Final Four MVP, is an individual Basketball Champions League awards, award of the Basketball Champions League, which is, along with the EuroCup Basketball, EuroCup, one of the ...

: (

) *

Winner: (

) *

Italian Cup Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

winner (

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

) *

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, ...

champion (

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

)

College career

Professional career

Early years

AEK Athens

Virtus Bologna (2018–19)

Olympiacos (2019)

Olimpia Milano (2020–2021)

Partizan (2021–2024)

FC Barcelona (2024–present)

Career statistics

EuroLeague

EuroCup

Basketball Champions League

Domestic leagues

College

Awards and accomplishments

College career

Pro career

References

External links