Kevin Punter is a son of the Bronx, he comes from New York, a city where basketball is played on every street corner and which has also given Olimpia many valuable players, from Arthur Kenney to Albert King, from Charles Jenkins to Jamel McLean in more recent times. Punter, however, had a different evolution: He grew up in the playgrounds (“I used to play from sunrise to sunset,” he says), but then went to North Carolina and emerged in college only during his last year, at Tennessee, when his coach was Rick Barnes, who at the University of Texas helped the career ok Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, PJ Tucker and many more.
-How was growing up in New York as a basketball player?
“It was dope. Everybody knows the all the five boroughs Hoopers, pretty much everybody knows each other and every summer we play in a bunch of different tournaments, in different parks, different environments all over the city. It’s been dope just being in that kind of environment. There were a bunch of dogs, so it was definitely fun growing up. I remember going to the park and my mom telling me to be back in the house before dark. Me? I just wasn’t listening, just stay outside and my dad had to give me. Just things like that. I was always outside playing basketball all day long”.
-Your mom was the one who had to convince you to keep playing. Is it true?
“It was not that she convinced me, she kind of told me to think about it some more. I was going through a lot of negatives in life and I was really thinking about quit. Saying you know what? Maybe it is not for me, maybe I’d just stop. I told her: I’m done. And she called me back and said if you still want to quit, I will be with you 100 percent. But she didn’t want me to think emotionally, she wanted me to reflect, and think it thorough before making rushed decisions”.
-What happened when you really raised your game during your last season at Tennessee?
“A lot of work, I also changed my shot going into my senior year. Playing for Rick Barnes, my mindset, my work ethic has always been high. But going into my senior year I knew I had to really pick it up some more, I wanted potentially looking to the NBA, so I dedicated that summer to just work, working, working and trying to get better. That all summer I just didn’t take a jump-shot outside the paint. Coach Barnes broke down my mechanics and he just helped me start from the scratch. It took all summer.”
-Since you have won three different cups in Europe do you see yourself as a winner?
“I’ve won my all career, some people think otherwise because I haven’t done it at the EuroLeague level, but I mean it wasn’t my fault. I’ve done it at the level I was playing. This is my fifth year, the second year playing at the EuroLeague level, I’ve done pretty good. For me, I just keep working, I’ve won earlier in my career, I want to continue.”
-You have a growing reputation as a clutch player.
“I let the people decide that, for me, I just try to be myself. If people say that it is what it is, but I just try to be the best individual I can be for the team.”
-What are your expectations coming to Milan?
“It’s a new challenge, I love challenges, I’ve dealt with challenges all my life. It’s kind of being comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s a great city, great club, history, a great coach, teammates. I feel like we have the pieces in place to be extremely good. I looked at this like a great opportunity to do something special. Speaking with him about the team we’re building, certain guys we had already signed, and for me I looked at a great team, a bunch of winners at the EuroLeague level. All the guys I can learn from them, get knowledge and take my career up. The Coach, he’s been in the league, he’s won EuroLeague titles, so he has knowledge and a lot of information, to benefit me and help the next player, because at some point I want to be the old veteran here to help the next player. I’m one of the young guys now, I’m trying to play the games, listen and still be myself”.
