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Kevin Punter
	Punter with Partizan Belgrade in 2023
No. 0 – FC Barcelona
Position	Shooting guard
League	Liga ACB; EuroLeague
Personal information
Born	June 25, 1993 (age 31); The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American / Serbian
Listed height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Listed weight	81 kg (179 lb)
Career information
High school	Salesian; (New Rochelle, New York); Body of Christ Academy; (Raleigh, North Carolina);
College	State Fair CC (2012–2014); Tennessee (2014–2016);
NBA draft	2016: undrafted
Playing career	2016–present
Career history
2016–2017	Lavrio
2017	Antwerp Giants
2017–2018	Rosa Radom
2018	AEK Athens
2018–2019	Virtus Bologna
2019	Olympiacos
2019–2020	Crvena zvezda
2020–2021	Olimpia Milano
2021–2024	Partizan
2024–present	FC Barcelona
Career highlights and awards
	All-EuroLeague Second Team (2023); All-EuroCup Second Team (2022); 2× FIBA Champions League champion (2018, 2019); FIBA Champions League Final Four MVP (2019); FIBA Champions League Top Scorer (2018); All-FIBA Champions League First Team (2019); ABA League champion (2023); ABA League Finals MVP (2023); 2× All-ABA League Team (2022, 2023); Italian Cup winner (2021); Italian Super Cup winner (2020); Greek Cup winner (2018); Second-team All-SEC (2016);

Kevin Xavier Punter Jr. (born June 25, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for FC Barcelona of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. In addition to being a citizen of the United States, Punter also has Serbian citizenship.

After playing two years each of college basketball at State Fair Community College and Tennessee, Punter went undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft. He started his professional career in Europe, where he has played for elite teams like Virtus Bologna, Olympiacos, Crvena zvezda, Olimpia Milano, and Partizan.

College career

After high school, Punter played college basketball at State Fair Community College, from 2012 to 2014, and at the University of Tennessee, with the Tennessee Volunteers. In his senior year at Tennessee, Punter averaged 22.1 points per game, and 3.4 rebounds per game. Though he missed five games of SEC Conference play, he was named Second Team All-SEC, after finishing with the third-highest scoring average (22.1 points per game), and the fourth-highest free-throw percentage (.853), during conference league games.^[1]

Professional career

Early years

After failing to be drafted in the 2016 NBA draft, Punter played with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2016 NBA Summer League.^[2] In 2016, he signed with Lavrio of the Greek Basket League for 40.000 eur per year.^[3] He played in 21 games for Lavrio, averaging 12.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game. On March 27, 2017, he left Lavrio, and signed with the Antwerp Giants, until the end of the season.^[4]

In July 2017, he signed with Rosa Radom.^[5] He played in 16 games with Rosa Radom, and went on to average 20.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in the FIBA Basketball Champions League. His very good performances gained the interest of the Turkish Super League club Gaziantep, in February but the player didn't leave the team.^[6]

AEK Athens

On February 10, 2018, he moved to AEK Athens for the rest of the season.^[7] With AEK, he won the Greek Cup title, in 2018. On May 6, 2018, Punter also won the FIBA Champions League title. In the final, Punter was one of the best players of his team, scoring 16 points.^[8] Over 11 Greek Basket League games, Punter averaged 11.4 points and 2.3 rebounds on 44% shooting from the field.

Virtus Bologna (2018–19)

On July 6, 2018, Punter signed a deal with Virtus Bologna for the 2018–19 season.^[9] He led the team to winning the Basketball Champions League crown by posting 21 points and eight rebounds in the semifinal over Brose Bamberg, plus 27 points and seven rebounds in the Final against Iberostar Tenerife. He claimed MVP of the Final Four,^[10] after also being named to the competition's Star Lineup.^[11]

Olympiacos (2019)

On June 28, 2019, Punter signed a two-year contract with the Greek EuroLeague club Olympiacos.^[12] On December 24, 2019, he was released by Olympiacos.^[13] Three days later, he signed with the Serbian EuroLeague club Crvena zvezda for the rest of the season.^[14] On February 11, 2020, Punter obtained a Serbian passport and Serbian citizenship.^[15]^[16]

Olimpia Milano (2020–2021)

On June 18, 2020, Punter signed with the Italian EuroLeague club Olimpia Milano.^[17] With Olimpia, he appeared in 36 EuroLeague games, and averaged 14.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Olimpia managed to reach the 2021 EuroLeague Final Four, where they won the third place.

Partizan (2021–2024)

On July 2, 2021, Punter signed a two-year contract with Partizan of the ABA League and the EuroCup.^[18]

During the 2022–23 season, Partizan was eliminated by Real Madrid in a tight EuroLeague playoffs series. Over the season, Punter averaged 16.1 points, 2.5 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game. Partizan ended the 2022–23 season by lifting the ABA League championship trophy, after a 3–2 winning series over Crvena zvezda in the finals.^[19] In the fifth decisive game, Punter scored 32 points, recorded 5 rebounds and 2 assists and was awarded the ABA League Finals MVP.

On June 29, 2023, after controversial negotiations with both Panathinaikos and FC Barcelona, Punter renewed his contract with Partizan for another two years. Over the 2023–24 season, Punter averaged 15 points, and career-high 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists over 28 EuroLeague games. The season was deemed to be unsuccessful for Partizan as they finished the season without lifting any trophy.^[20]

FC Barcelona (2024–present)

On June 19, 2024, Punter signed a one-year contract with FC Barcelona of Liga ACB and EuroLeague^[21] In October 2024, he earned a Euroleague Basketball's MVP honors for October. He averaged 18.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals.^[22]

Career statistics

Legend
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	PIR	Performance Index Rating
Bold	Career high

EuroLeague


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2019–20	Olympiacos	11	3	10.7	.300	.179	.700	1.9	.8	.5	.1	6.8	2.6
2019–20	Crvena zvezda	12	0	22.1	.477	.481	.894	1.1	1.5	.6	.1	15.9	13.7
2020–21	Olimpia Milano	36	33	24.7	.456	.392	.894	1.6	1.4	.8	.1	14.3	11.6
2022–23	Partizan	37	24	27.9	.469	.443	.917	2.1	2.5	1.0	.1	16.1	15.0
2023–24	Partizan	28	24	29.1	.463	.350	.902	2.6	2.6	1.1	.2	15.0	14.2
Career		124	84	25.8	.453	.393	.894	2.0	2.0	.9	.1	14.5	12.6

EuroCup


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2021–22	Partizan	17	15	27.1	.460	.289	.875	2.8	2.1	1.0	.1	16.2	16.5
Career		17	15	27.1	.460	.289	.875	2.8	2.1	1.0	.1	16.2	16.5

Basketball Champions League


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2017–18	Rosa Radom	14	14	31.2	.435	.357	.771	3.4	1.6	1.6	.1	21.1
2017–18	AEK Athens	6	0	23.1	.470	.419	.680	2.2	1.0	1.2	.2	15.3
2018–19	Virtus Bologna	20	20	27.0	.449	.418	.807	3.3	1.6	1.1	.3	15.9
Career		40	34	27.9	.445	.394	.770	3.2	1.5	1.3	.2	17.7

Domestic leagues

Year	Team	League	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2016–17	Lavrio	HEBA A1	21	23.2	.445	.432	.800	2.4	.9	.9	.1	12.5
2016–17	Antwerp Giants	PBL	15	23.3	.390	.302	.868	3.1	1.6	1.7	.1	11.1
2017–18	Rosa Radom	PLK	20	29.9	.482	.370	.819	4.6	2.3	1.4	.0	19.3
2017–18	AEK Athens	HEBA A1	13	19.6	.430	.356	.872	2.1	.8	.9	.1	10.9
2018–19	Virtus Bologna	LBA	29	26.5	.418	.345	.894	2.9	1.5	1.1	.1	14.2
2019–20	Crvena zvezda	ABA	8	19.3	.419	.360	.929	1.5	1.7	.9	.1	10.9
2020–21	Olimpia Milano	LBA	28	21.9	.414	.395	.844	1.6	1.4	1.0	.1	11.1
2021–22	Partizan	ABA	32	25.7	.417	.350	.885	2.4	3.1	.8	.0	12.5
2022–23	Partizan	ABA	36	22.0	.496	.405	.891	1.9	2.7	1.1	.1	9.9
2023–24	Partizan	KLS	4	18.0	.576	.545	.667	2.5	2.2	.5	.2	11.5
2023–24	Partizan	ABA	27	21.9	.412	.333	.912	2.1	2.7	.8	.1	9.4

College


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2014–15	Tennessee	32	31	31.0	.419	.352	.685	2.1	1.9	1.6	.2	10.3
2015–16	Tennessee	26	26	34.1	.460	.369	.817	3.4	3.5	1.4	.2	22.2
Career		58	57	32.4	.443	.362	.776	2.7	2.6	1.5	.2	15.6