Hunter’s big interview to Championat.com

Why did you decide to leave Zenit this off-season?

It wasn't an offer for me on the table, so you know, you got to go where you want it. It's not like I have a decision where I want to go every year, but I just take whatever offers are on the table for me and look for the best opportunity for me and the best situation.

How did Lokomotiv appear in your career?

Well, the funny thing is Lokomotiv, they always seem to like pop up every year with an offer for me. I feel like since I've been playing overseas, they always wanted me to play, so it was just a good opportunity when it was presented to me.

Was it hard for you to accept their offer?

Of course I thought about it. It was just like any other year, any other decision. Just look at what's over there, what's the goals for the team, and what's my goals. If it'll line up, then it's just a good opportunity. It wasn't like it was something more special this year. It was just another off-season, free agent off-season for me, and a couple teams popped up, and Lokomotiv was one of them teams, so I ended up just going with that opportunity.

What attracted you most in Loko?

I just know every year they're fighting to get to that next step, which is the championship, and they're always in the race to try to get a championship, and that's a really big thing for me. Every team I want to play for, I want to be able to win and win championships. So that was a big thing for me with Lokomotiv. They're always a piece or two away from winning, or it's just not their luck that year. So that was a big thing for me going into making my decision.

This summer, Krasnodar airport was still closed. For sure you knew about that when you signed your contract. Were you ready to travel so much?

Yeah, I've been overseas for 11 years, so I travelled almost every which way. That was not a big thing, but in the back of my head I knew it would be a lot of travel, but I know they take care of their guys over here, so it wasn't one of my big worries.

What was your reaction when you knew that Krasnodar airport was open?

Oh, thank God! I was extremely happy. It just makes it that much better of the right decision to come here, but I was very happy.

Some say that some European teams also made an offer for you this summer, for example Virtus. Can you tell us about other clubs who called you?

I don't want to say any names, but it was a few clubs, just like it is every year around free agency, but it was a few big high-level clubs, and like I said, it was just for me the right situation for me and the right decision to make for me and my family. I guess it just brought me back to Russia.

It's your fourth year here. What do you think of Russia?

It's comfortable for me. I like it. Obviously, because I've been here four years, I'm used to it now, so it's really comfortable for me and my family, and that's very important for me when I'm going from city to city. I want to be comfortable, and I want my family to be comfortable.

Is there something that still surprises you in Russia?

No, I think I saw just about everything in Russia. I wouldn't say everything, but I saw a lot. Nothing really surprised me. I'm learning about the new culture and the people here each day, and it's just a great opportunity for me to expand my mind.

Do you know some Russian words?

I know a few words, but not anything special. I want to learn, but it's just hard for me to say the Russian words.

Have you heard about the coach Anton Yudin before?

Yeah, I know he worked with CSKA a lot in this career, and that means a lot because they have a winning culture over there, so for sure he learned a lot and taught a lot, and I knew he could come and try to bring that winning culture over here.

What are your impressions after you've been working with him?

He likes to practice. He likes his practices and he takes them seriously. We're going to work every minute that we're in there, and you've got to appreciate that from coaches that want to be in the gym a lot.

What is your opinion on other new players to Loko this summer, like Jeremiah Martin, Royce Hamm?

We have a lot of talent. First hand, I can tell you that I've been playing against these guys the past few years, and then went to battle against these guys, and I know what they're bringing to the table, and they're very talented, and I feel like we have a strong core right now.

Loko gives a lot of playing time to local players. Did some of these youngsters impress you?

Really, all of them. They show up, and I guess they want to learn. They want to get better, and that's what you look for in the young guys because they've got to want it themselves. They want to be on the court, and I feel like all these guys want to play, and they're upset when they don't play, and that's not necessarily a bad thing because you want to play and contribute to the team, and I appreciate that from the young guys.

What can you say about the start of the season for Loko?

I feel like we're getting off a little bit to a slow start just because we haven't had all our guys playing. We had a few injuries. I didn't play much in preseason, and Martin just got injured, so we're getting off to a little bit of a slow start, but we're learning each day. I feel like we're going to finish the season strong because we're getting used to each other and getting comfortable with each other, and it's going to start clicking soon.

UNICS had quite a strong start. Are they so good?

It's nothing unusual how them guys are playing right now. They're very well coached. [Velimir Perasović] has his cultural way to play over there, and that's what he's enforcing. When you watch these guys, they're picking up full court. They're playing hard. That's just what the coach is over there, so it's not really an unusual start. We knew how these guys were going to show up every year, and they're doing that right now, they're playing very well. We have to see how we can chop them down going into the future, so that's going to be a good game I can't wait.

What can you say about Zenit’s game?

It's going to be interesting to watch them every game. I've been watching every game, mostly every game in VTB. They've got a lot of talent over there, and my goal with watching is just trying to figure out what we need to do to beat these guys and just learning these guys, but they have a lot of talent. They have a deep bench, and we've just got to figure out how to outplay them. I know they give up a lot of points, but we've got to figure out how to beat them and stop their manpower on offense.

Will Nenad Dimitrijević be able to play for Zenit as well as for UNICS?

It's always tough trying to chase that. What Neno did that year for UNICS, it was amazing. You might not have ever played that good ever again in your career. It was just amazing. If I was him, I wouldn't try to chase it. I would just keep trying to be consistent and keep playing. I think he can be very good at it.

A question about CSKA. How can they be defeated?

That's a tough question. I've been trying at it for two or three years. They're a very good team. They're very well coached. They have team chemistry. They've been playing with each other for a long time. When you're watching them play, you can see that they like playing with each other. They know how everybody plays. It's just clicking for them right now, but I don't think they're unbeatable. You just have to stay consistent down the stretch and stay to your game plan. You'll be the beat, CSKA.

Do you have some personal rivalries in the VTB League?

I wouldn't say personal rivals. It's just the top six to eight teams you want to beat. And really just the top four teams, you know, CSKA, Zenit, UNICS, they're all our rivals.

Maybe you see some guy and think, ah, here you are.

No, just anybody who I can say is probably on the same level as me, or I want to prove that they're not on my level. I love playing against Jalen [Reynolds]. He's one of the guys, one of the top bigs, so I love playing against him in a competing way. You know, CSKA bigs are very well-taught, and they're very good, and I love playing against them guys. The new guy from PARMA, [Terrell] Carter, I would like to play against him. He looks like he'd be a fun matchup. I've been watching him play. You know, I like his game. So I really want to play and compete against him, so that might be one of the rivals there. Maybe he'll read this.

Last year's semifinals, Loko against Zenit, was very hot. Did you have the same hotness in your career?

I mean, like, I've been part of some really big rivalries. I've been part of Olympiakos–Panathinakos rivalries, so it's not something I'm not used to. I'm used to the rivalries. I'm used to things getting hot. For me, it makes it more fun when it's controlled. Maybe we got a little out of control last year, but it was fun competing in that way. That might have been one of the funnest series. It was just all the fighting and everything. It was just two teams that wanted to win, and that's what you had to go out there and show.

Does anybody in Loko still remind you of the ceiling thing?

Probably the first week we talked and laughed about it. We all joked about it. It wasn't anything too serious, but we laughed and talked about how that series was going. It was a good talk, but they didn't bring it up too much.

What happened in that episode? Were you really so angry?

No, no. I was mad that you're competing and it's the playoff. Your emotions are going to get maybe even carried away, but it's the playoff. If I'm on the other team, I don't want the best big to get thrown out the game in the first quarter. It's not going to be any fun. It's not going to be good for the fans. It's not going to be good for anybody. I was kind of mad about that and upset about myself that I let it get carried away. I was really just upset. We were losing and we lost. All these things just add up.

During your first year at Zenit, you became the DPOY of the league, but the second year in Zenit was not so great for you. What has changed?

Each year is different. One year you might have a good year. Everything might work out for you. The second year is just a different team and different opportunities and a different role that I had to play. That happens. I've been a professional for 11 years. I've been in every type of role. You probably can imagine from starter minutes to coming off the bench to only playing six to eight minutes. I've been in every role. I just try to appreciate it and take every year as a learning season.

How did you spend your summer?

My wife was pregnant and close to getting ready to have my baby boy. I was pretty much just resting and looking after her. On top of that, I'm always coaching on the side and training the kids at my high school that I sponsor. I really never give the gym a break. As soon as I got back, I was still in the gym going to tournaments and games and watching the kids play and practice. Maybe I had a five-day break where I didn't see any gym.

How did you start training kids?

It's what I always wanted to do growing up, anytime I can give back. Once basketball is over for me, I would like to coach. I just thought it would be a great time to start giving back to the kids. I have a little brother that plays basketball also. He's a 10th grader in high school. He really helped me push to get through. Everything the kids are getting, he's also getting to. He really appreciates that. He really gave me that push to try to sponsor their school and help the kids learn every day, at least learn what I have to teach so far. It was just a good opportunity for me. Like I said, just growing up, I didn't have it all. Of course, it was a little bit rough for me growing up. Just thinking about all the situations that I was in when I needed something or maybe I needed somebody to come and help me. That just always sticks to my mind. If somebody needs my help, then I'm always willing to help and do the best I can. I never want to feel like I can't help anybody, so it kind of gets to me if I can't help.

You're also making your own clothes. For what purpose? Isn't it for money?

No, it wasn't just because it wasn't that big. It was really just to push my brand out and try to give it a push of the training and coaching that my brands come with and the camps to try to get a bigger base for the kids so they can see everything that I'm pushing out so they can get in the gym with me or maybe work out, maybe come to the high school. So just things like that. It was really just to push my VH brand out.

Who's your best friend at Loko?

I don't want to pick one person. I talk to pretty much everybody. I can laugh and play around and joke with everybody. Right now that's kind of like the team we are. We all enjoy being around each other and we laugh and we play and enjoy off the court.

What do you usually do when you have some free time?

I really don't do much. I probably can't even say I watch movies because I'm doing that anyway, every day, all day. But I will probably just say relax and watch some basketball. I do like to go bowling and I enjoy going bowling, especially with my family. I'm getting better and better so I might be a top bowler one day.

Like in the Big Lebowski movie?

Yeah, exactly. A very good movie.

Have you heard of Yegor Demin, the Russian guy in the NBA?

Yegor who?

Demin, the guy from the Brooklyn Nets.

I heard about him. I haven't seen him play too much because I don't watch too much NBA right now. But I did hear about him. I think I saw a couple highlights but not too much. But I was interested that he was from Russia.

But you said you watch a lot of basketball. Which leagues, if not the NBA?

Definitely Euroleague. I always replay all the games. I probably don't catch them like every week or when they come out. But I always replay every game. I watch the Italian league, the Spanish league, the VTB league, of course. And the French league I watch a lot too.

So, you prefer European basketball, not American.

Yes, I don't really watch the NBA. I just don't like that type of basketball right now.