Steven Hunter
Steven Hunter | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 31, 1981 United States |
| Occupation | Professional basketball player (retired) |
| Years active | 2001–2013 |
| Known for | Playing as a center in the NBA and for Dinamo Sassari |
Steven Deon Hunter (born October 31, 1981) is a retired American professional basketball athlete who mainly played as a center. His last team was Dinamo Sassari.
High school and college career
Hunter attended Proviso East High School, an institution recognized for producing NBA players like Michael Finley and Doc Rivers. Following high school, he spent two seasons competing at DePaul University before declaring for the 2001 NBA draft.
Professional career
During his rookie season with the Orlando Magic, Hunter achieved a personal best of 17 points on December 5, 2001. In 2002, he incurred an anterior cruciate ligament injury in training camp, resulting in him missing 49 games throughout the 2002–03 season.
While playing for the Phoenix Suns on April 24, 2005, Hunter recorded a postseason career-high of 16 points along with 5 rebounds during a victory against the Memphis Grizzlies. That year, the Suns advanced to the Western Conference Finals but were ultimately defeated by the Spurs.
Hunter joined the Philadelphia 76ers as a free agent in 2005. A proposed trade to the New Orleans Hornets in February 2006 was later withdrawn. In September 2007, he was traded to the Denver Nuggets alongside Bobby Jones in exchange for Reggie Evans and the draft rights to Ricky Sanchez.
On August 7, 2009, Hunter and a protected first-round draft pick were sent from the Nuggets to the Memphis Grizzlies in return for a future second-round pick. His final appearance in an NBA game took place on February 6, 2010.
In October 2011, Hunter signed with Italian club Dinamo Basket Sassari. By 2013, he had shifted into a community liaison position with both the NBA and the Phoenix Suns organization based in Arizona.
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 | 69 || 35 || 19.0 || .601 || .000 || .514 || 3.9 || .2 || .2 || 1.1 || 6.1 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 70 || 41|| 22.9|| .577|| .000|| .490|| 4.8|| .4|| .2|| 1.1|| 6.4 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Denver |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 | align="left" | Orlando | 7||0||5.7||.300||.000||.000||.4||.1||.0||.4||.9 |- | align="left" | 2005 | align="left" | Phoenix | 15||0||14.2||.558||.000||.600|||2.5|||0.2|||0.1|||1.2|||4.0 |- | align="left" | 2008 | align="left" | Denver | 2||0||2.5||.000||.000||.000||1.0||0.0||0.0||0.0||0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |24||0||10.8||.500||.000||.522||1.8||0.2||0||0.9||2.8