Kevin Punter on leaving Milan: 'You have to know your worth, as simple as that' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Dragana Stjepanovic - Partizan NIS Belgrade Credit Dragana Stjepanovic - Partizan NIS Belgrade

Kevin Punter has probably been the biggest signing of the offseason for Partizan NIS Belgrade. A terrific scorer known for his personal qualities is now one of the team's leaders.

Points this season

48%84,6Points made:84,6Accuracy:48,2%Place in standings:4Record max:106Record min:60Best scorer:Kevin PunterTeamEuroCupStatisticsSchedule

This week, Punter sat down with Joe Arlauckas in his The Crossover podcast to talk about his upbringing, first steps in Europe, and signings with Virtus Bologna and Partizan.

Years before Punter became who he is now, he had a lot of doubts and even wanted to stop playing basketball at one time.

Following high school, Punter spent one year attending the Body of Christ Christian Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina. In his lone season at Body of Christ, he averaged 24.2 points and 2.5 steals. That's when the doubts started to kick in.

"I was done. I didn't have any other goals. Basketball was all I knew. It was my SAT score, which is why I wanted to stop. I took it 7 times," Punter said in the podcast.

"That's what a lot of people don't know," the player continued. "I couldn't get the exact number I needed to qualify, and I called my mother crying, saying, 'I quit, I don't want to play anymore, I'm going to just come home."

"My mom said, 'Call me back, and if you still want to be done with basketball, I'll come to pick you up, I'll put you on'," Punter explained. "I said cool, called her back about 30 minutes later."

"I didn't want to make an emotional decision, and then I kind of was like 'I wanna hoop', and we kind of just went to see what was the next step in trying to move forward," Punter finished his story.

After high school, Punter played college basketball at State Fair Community College for two years and at the University of Tennessee after that. In his senior year at Tennessee, Punter averaged 22.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

Partizan Belgrade / Schedule

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"What got me to that point was just praying, to be honest with you, a lot of praying at times. People won't really tell you that part, but man, it was a lot of nights," Punter recalls. "I prayed every night hoping and wishing for these things and, obviously, just doing my part. A lot of prayer during these times."

Punter signed with Virtus Bologna in 2018 immediately after winning the Basketball Champions League trophy with AEK Athens. The guard has really fond memories of the place.

"It was dope. It's not too big, but it's not too small, it was kind of perfect. Really nice restaurants around, good vibe. I really enjoyed my time there," It was my first time in Italy too. I had heard a lot of good things about basketball. I was excited that year to be in Italy. I wanted that back-to-back so bad."

Last year, Punter was a key part of AX Armani Exchange Milan's plans. Although the Final 4 was not as successful as the team probably hoped, the club saw Punter as an integral part of the future. Why did it not work out? Punter was blunt.

"Man... I'll say this. One thing that I've learned since I've been in Europe - the media likes to paint a certain picture. All I'm gonna say is they [Milan] know why I left," Punter explained. "They know deep down inside why. Milan, they know. They know exactly why. They know where I stood with that situation."

The American guard did not want to expand on the situation in the podcast: "It didn't work out, it didn't work out. I'm no dummy either, I'm no idiot," Punter continued. "One thing in this business, you have to know your worth, as simple as that. That's all I can say."

After a couple of seasons in the EuroLeague, Punter decided to go to the 7DAYS EuroCup and signed with Partizan. All the player needed to hear was the future plans of the club.

"For me, I always need something to motivate me. I've been motivated for the last six years now. That's how I like to build each season off with some kind of motivation," Punter explained. "One thing I asked was what was your plan, where did you see this team. Obviously, it's getting back to the EuroLeague."

"Once he [Obradovic] said 'get back to the EuroLeague', and we're trying to do it now, that was all I needed to hear," the Partizan guard recalled. "With him being the coach that he was, I didn't need to know anything more."

Kevin Punter is honest - the decision was not easy.

"It was probably one of the hardest decisions ever," the player said. "I had to really think about that for probably about 24 hours because it happened so quickly."

"Once I did, I was happy. What really made me happy was just getting the feedback from other players," Punter continued. "That's how I knew I didn't make a bad decision. I was already confident in my decision, but just hearing that from other players, them respecting what I did, it reinforced what I already felt."

What was the first thing he did when he found he was going to play for the legendary Zeljko Obradovic? Punter immediately contacted Luigi Datome.

"I asked Gigi Datome. Once I signed, I texted Gigi ASAP. Tell me everything you know, Gigi," Punter explained while smiling. "Gigi kept it real. He told me, look, the coach demands a lot, but it was nothing I'd never heard before."

Is Obradovic really that different from the other coaches? "Honestly, it's nothing I've never seen before, he yells and screams, yes, he's extremely demanding, yes, I'm used to that," Punter told Arlauckas.

"I've been saying this all the time - if you hear what he's saying, you're like 'oh, he's not even crazy, he's not even what you think it is'. He just says a bunch of curse words, and he says shoot the ball, or be aggressive, or stop doing something stupid."

"The delivery is off, but if you listen to the delivery, you're done, you've got to just focus and listen to what he's saying. He's really telling you to be you," Punter finished.

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