Hunter happy to get another chance
ORLANDO, Fla. — R.J. Hunter wasn’t expecting a call from the Celtics, though he was happy it came.
He was drafted in the first round by the Celts in 2015, 12 picks after Terry Rozier. But one day shy of 16 months later, he was cut by the club when the last roster spot came down to him or James Young and spent the next two-plus years bouncing around the G-League and making brief appearances with the Bulls (three games) and Rockets (five).
Now he is back, having been officially signed to a two-way contract with the Celtics on Thursday. He will start out with the G-League’s Maine Red Claws, but will be working out with the C’s as the contract and schedule allow.
“It was a surprise, because I really had to move on from that situation,” said Hunter in a teleconference with reporters. “Like, I really had to say, ‘Well, that’s over now, so it’s time to move on with your career.’ And especially how this business is so shot clock everything. The attention span is so shot clock, so for Danny (Ainge) and everybody to keep with me on my journey three years later — it’s kind of hard to keep up with games — it just really said a lot about how far I’ve improved. It was just awesome to hear from them.”
The term “full circle” has been thrown around, but the 6-foot-5 guard isn’t focused on the story.
“I don’t know if I’m looking at a redemption,” Hunter said. “Like, I’m just really excited to be back around. You know, especially now this thing has grown even more now and there’s an actual chance at winning a championship. So I think that excitement alone has just been kind of a crazy feeling these last 48 hours, because I’ve always watched from afar. I’ve always kept up with the C’s. I’ve always just texted Terry about everything. I’ve always just watched, because I’ve always had that connection. So just … I never expected to be back, so just to be back kind of out of nowhere, it’s a crazy feeling. Like, I can’t even explain it. I was driving around Boston the other day. I haven’t been back to Boston since I think I got cut from Boston and came back and played with Chicago. So just to be back driving around seeing everything familiar is just a very crazy feeling.”
On the feeling scale, getting let go in October 2016 is miles from that.
“That was just really tough to deal with, being your first year in the league,” Hunter said. “Just seeing that side of the business early was tough to deal with, but the flip side was seeing that side of the business kind of helped me move forward. I’ve approached everything I do now as a man, just really preparing myself for anything to happen at any moment, and I think that’s just allowed me to really focus just on my game and let everything else just be everything else.
“It’s taught me a lot,” he said of the journey through the G-League and elsewhere. “But the main thing was the appreciation of the game. Coming in, you just don’t know what to expect. I was just focused on a lot of things outside of basketball. Just going through different teams and going through a lot of different situations allowed me to really focus on basketball . . . and I really fell back in love with the game.”
As for what’s different about his game now that makes him more equipped to stick here, Hunter said, “Consistency with my shot is still the thing that I’m really trying to work on, but I’ve really developed an overall game.”