Brandon Hunter, a former Boston Celtics player, died at the age of 42.
BOSTON (AP) —
Brandon Hunter, a 42-year-old former NBA player chosen by the Boston Celtics, has died.
On social media, Jeff Boals, the head men’s basketball coach at Hunter’s alma mater, Ohio University, paid respect to Hunter.
“A great Bobcat has passed away. “Way too soon,” Boals wrote on his Instagram account Tuesday night.
Hunter, a native of Cincinnati, was taken by the Celtics in the second round of the 2003 NBA draft with the 56th overall choice. For the Ohio Bobcats, the 6-foot-7 power forward earned a three-time First Team All-MAC selection. Hunter averaged 21.5 points per game and an NCAA Division I-leading 12.6 rebounds per game in his final season. He also has 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his college career.
As a rookie, Hunter played in 36 games for the Celtics and started 12. He averaged 3.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game while playing 11.3 minutes per contest.
The Celtics left Hunter unprotected in the 2004 NBA expansion draft, during which he was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats. Hunter did not get a chance to play for the Bobcats before they traded him to the Orlando Magic in November 2004. He averaged 3.1 points and 2.2 rebounds across 31 games with the Magic.
Hunter was signed by the Milwaukee Bucks as a free agent in September 2005, but was waived a month later. He had a brief stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers in October 2006 before embarking on an international basketball career that lasted into 2013.
“We just spoke last week,” Hunter’s former Bucks teammate T.J. Ford tweeted in response to the news. “Losing a lot of my friends lately.”
