Former NBA and EuroLeague basketball player Brandon Hunter has passed away at the age of 42, as announced by Jeff Boals, the head coach of Ohio University, which Hunter attended before turning pro.
Hunter collapsed at the end of a yoga class, and the official cause of death is still unknown. The former Panathinaikos basketball player also owned a sports agency and was a certified FIBA agent.
He was drafted in the renowned 2003 NBA Draft, where LeBron James was the first pick, Darko Milicic the second, and Carmelo Anthony the third. Hunter was selected as the 56th pick.
He spent two years in the top basketball league in the world, playing for the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic. During that time, he averaged 3.3 points and 2.8 rebounds.
Afterward, he made his way to Europe. In addition to the Athens-based “Greens,” he also played for teams like Napoli.
Former NBA guard TJ Ford was taken aback by the news.
“We were just talking last week. I’ve been losing a lot of friends lately…” Ford wrote on Twitter.
Ford was also the subject of a very interesting interview given by Miralem Halilovic for Basketball Sphere. The interview covered topics such as why Mike James left Zagreb and how close Derrick Rose was to heading to Croatia during that period.