 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1970-12-03)December 3, 1970 (age 54) Utica, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Murrah (Jackson, Mississippi) |
| College |
|
| NBA draft | 1993: 1st round, 10th overall pick |
| Drafted by | Detroit Pistons |
| Playing career | 1993–2010 |
| Position | Point guard /shooting guard |
| Number | 1, 11, 10 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1993–2000 | Detroit Pistons |
| 2000–2001 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 2001–2002 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 2002–2003 | Toronto Raptors |
| 2003–2008 | Detroit Pistons |
| 2008–2010 | Chicago Bulls |
Coaching | |
| 2012–2013 | Phoenix Suns (assistant) |
| 2013 | Phoenix Suns (interim HC) |
| 2013–2014 | Golden State Warriors (assistant) |
| 2016–2017 | Buffalo (assistant) |
| 2019–2022 | Mississippi Valley State |
| 2025 | Sparta High School (Michigan) |
| Career highlights | |
| Career statistics | |
| Points | 7,956 (8.5 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 2,021 (2.2 rpg) |
| Assists | 2,506 (2.7 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Lindsey Benson Hunter Jr. (born December 3, 1970) is an American former professionalbasketball player and coach. He played in theNational Basketball Association (NBA) from 1993 to 2010, spending most of his career with theDetroit Pistons. He was also the interim head coach of thePhoenix Suns in 2013. Most recently, he served as the head coach atMississippi Valley State. Former Head Coach of the Sparta Spartans.
After playing basketball atMurrah High School inJackson, Mississippi, alongside phenomJames Robinson, Hunter enrolled atAlcorn State University, then transferred toJackson State University after his freshman year. While playing for theJackson State Tigers, he became arguably the school's highest profile athlete since the days ofWalter Payton andJackie Slater.
TheDetroit Pistons had two first-round picks in the1993 NBA draft. They selected Hunter with the 10th pick and choseTennessee guardAllan Houston with the 11th. As a rookie, Hunter played in all 82 games, while averaging 10.3 points and what would be a career-high 4.8 assists per game.[1] During the1996-97 NBA season, Hunter averaged a career-high 14.2 points per game,[2] before then averaging a playoff career-high 15 points per game during a 3–2 first round loss to theHawks.[3] His first stint in Detroit lasted from 1993 to 2000 when he was traded to theMilwaukee Bucks forBilly Owens. He was a key role player with the Bucks for one season, playing the fifth-most minutes of any Buck en route to the team's 4–3Eastern Conference Finals loss,[4] before being sent to theLos Angeles Lakers in exchange forGreg Foster the following season. Hunter was a contributor on the Lakers team that won the NBA championship in2001–02.
Following that season, Hunter was dealt again (on draft night 2002), this time to theToronto Raptors, along with the rights toChris Jefferies, forTracy Murray andKareem Rush.[5] In August 2003, the Pistons re-acquired Hunter by sendingMichael Curry to the Raptors.[6] He was traded to theBoston Celtics in February 2004 along withChucky Atkins and Detroit's 2004 first-round draft pick forMike James, in order to make thesalary cap figures work out for the trade that broughtRasheed Wallace to the Pistons. Hunter never played a game for the Celtics; he was immediately released and re-signed by Detroit a week later.[7] Hunter and the Pistons went on to win the2003–04 NBA championship. Hunter and the Pistons went back to the Finals in2004–2005, but Detroit lost the series in seven games to theSan Antonio Spurs. During the Pistons Finals runs, Hunter was credited as a tenacious on-ball defender off the bench. He was credited with guardingJason Kidd,Kobe Bryant, andTony Parker in Detroit's two Finals runs.
On March 7, 2007, Hunter was suspended for ten games after testing positive forphentermine. He claimed he was using his wife's diet pills, which made him test positive for the banned substance.[8]
Hunter signed a one-year nonguaranteed contract with theChicago Bulls on November 13, 2008.[9] On July 13, 2009, Hunter re-signed with the Bulls for the veteran minimum of $1.3 million. At age 39, Hunter was the oldest player active during the 2009–2010 NBA season—until the Bulls waived him on March 3, 2010 (to make room forChris Richard).[10] Two days later, the Bulls hired him as a player development assistant.[11][12]
On August 28, 2012, Hunter signed with thePhoenix Suns as an assistant coach for player development.[13] After the Suns opened the season with a 13–28 record, Hunter was named Phoenix's interim head coach, replacingAlvin Gentry on January 20, 2013.[14] In his head coaching debut, Hunter led the Suns to a 106–96 victory over theSacramento Kings.[15] In May 2013, Hunter was replaced byJeff Hornacek. On September 18, 2013, Hunter joined theGolden State Warriors as an assistant coach.[16]
On June 13, 2016, Hunter was named an assistant coach onNate Oats' staff at theUniversity at Buffalo.[17]
On April 20, 2019, Hunter was named the head coach atMississippi Valley State University.[18] He went 7–74 in three years at the helm before stepping down in March 2022.[19]
On July 2, 2025, Hunter was named the head coach of the boys varsity basketball team atSparta High School (Michigan) inSparta, Michigan.[20]
On September 23, 2025, Sparta Superintendent Joel Stoner announced that Hunter and the District mutually agreed to separate employment.
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won anNBA championship |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–94 | Detroit | 82 | 26 | 26.5 | .375 | .333 | .732 | 2.3 | 4.8 | 1.5 | .1 | 10.3 |
| 1994–95 | Detroit | 42 | 26 | 22.5 | .374 | .333 | .727 | 1.8 | 3.8 | 1.2 | .2 | 7.5 |
| 1995–96 | Detroit | 80 | 48 | 26.7 | .381 | .405 | .700 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 1.1 | .2 | 8.5 |
| 1996–97 | Detroit | 82 | 76 | 36.9 | .404 | .355 | .778 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.6 | .3 | 14.2 |
| 1997–98 | Detroit | 71 | 67 | 35.3 | .383 | .321 | .740 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 1.7 | .1 | 12.1 |
| 1998–99 | Detroit | 49 | 49 | 35.8 | .435 | .386 | .753 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 1.8 | .2 | 11.9 |
| 1999–2000 | Detroit | 82 | 82 | 35.6 | .425 | .432 | .760 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.6 | .3 | 12.7 |
| 2000–01 | Milwaukee | 82 | 5 | 24.4 | .381 | .373 | .802 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 1.2 | .1 | 10.1 |
| 2001–02† | L.A. Lakers | 82 | 47 | 19.7 | .382 | .380 | .500 | 1.5 | 1.6 | .8 | .2 | 5.8 |
| 2002–03 | Toronto | 29 | 0 | 23.2 | .351 | .318 | .723 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 1.2 | .2 | 9.7 |
| 2003–04† | Detroit | 33 | 8 | 20.0 | .343 | .280 | .625 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 1.2 | .2 | 3.5 |
| 2004–05 | Detroit | 76 | 3 | 15.1 | .358 | .274 | .793 | 1.6 | 1.7 | .9 | .2 | 3.8 |
| 2005–06 | Detroit | 30 | 1 | 11.8 | .370 | .256 | .500 | 1.3 | 2.1 | .6 | .0 | 2.9 |
| 2006–07 | Detroit | 52 | 0 | 14.3 | .385 | .319 | .909 | .9 | 1.8 | .7 | .1 | 4.9 |
| 2007–08 | Detroit | 24 | 0 | 9.0 | .344 | .269 | .778 | .5 | 1.4 | .5 | .1 | 2.4 |
| 2008–09 | Chicago | 28 | 0 | 9.5 | .329 | .333 | .600 | .4 | 1.3 | .7 | .0 | 2.6 |
| 2009–10 | Chicago | 13 | 0 | 9.4 | .167 | .077 | 1.000 | 1.1 | .7 | .1 | .0 | 1.0 |
| Career | 937 | 439 | 24.8 | .388 | .360 | .746 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 1.2 | .2 | 8.5 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Detroit | 2 | 0 | 18.0 | .250 | .250 | .500 | 1.0 | .5 | .5 | .0 | 3.0 |
| 1997 | Detroit | 5 | 5 | 40.2 | .439 | .414 | .714 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 1.2 | .2 | 15.0 |
| 1999 | Detroit | 5 | 5 | 36.0 | .264 | .273 | 1.000 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 1.4 | .0 | 7.2 |
| 2000 | Detroit | 3 | 3 | 31.0 | .313 | .111 | .667 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.7 | .3 | 8.3 |
| 2001 | Milwaukee | 18 | 0 | 16.1 | .242 | .151 | .727 | 1.7 | 1.9 | .8 | .2 | 3.6 |
| 2002† | L.A. Lakers | 18 | 0 | 7.3 | .311 | .276 | .000 | .4 | .6 | .1 | .0 | 2.0 |
| 2004† | Detroit | 23 | 0 | 11.9 | .292 | .233 | .917 | 1.4 | .9 | .8 | .2 | 2.4 |
| 2005 | Detroit | 25 | 0 | 15.0 | .319 | .222 | .727 | 1.6 | 1.6 | .9 | .3 | 3.8 |
| 2006 | Detroit | 18 | 0 | 12.1 | .333 | .318 | 1.000 | 1.1 | 1.6 | .8 | .1 | 4.2 |
| 2007 | Detroit | 13 | 0 | 10.2 | .226 | .222 | 1.000 | .8 | 1.2 | .5 | .1 | 1.8 |
| 2008 | Detroit | 11 | 0 | 10.5 | .381 | .455 | .000 | .9 | 1.3 | .7 | .0 | 1.9 |
| 2009 | Chicago | 6 | 0 | 4.0 | .333 | .333 | .750 | .8 | .8 | .3 | .0 | 1.0 |
| Career | 147 | 13 | 14.1 | .309 | .260 | .810 | 1.3 | 1.3 | .7 | .1 | 3.5 | |
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils(Southwestern Athletic Conference)(2019–2022) | |||||||||
| 2019–20 | Mississippi Valley State | 3–27 | 3–15 | T–9th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Mississippi Valley State | 2–22 | 2–13 | 10th | |||||
| 2021–22 | Mississippi Valley State | 2–26 | 2–16 | 12th | |||||
| Mississippi Valley State: | 7–75 (.085) | 7–44 (.137) | |||||||
| Total: | 7–75 (.085) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix | 2012–13 | 41 | 12 | 29 | .293 | 5th in Pacific | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Career | 41 | 12 | 29 | .293 | — | — | — | — |
