R.J. Hunter just wants to stop Kevin Durant one time

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2015/09/boston_celtics_rj_hunter_just.html#incart_river



Boston Celtics' R.J. Hunter just wants to stop Kevin Durant one time






FILE: Boston Celtics 2015 draft pick R.J. Hunter smiles as he listen's to a reporter's question after his introduction to members of the media at the Boston Celtics basketball team's training facility Tuesday, June 30, 2015, in Waltham, Mass. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

Print Email Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com

on September 17, 2015 at 9:45 AM




Though Kevin Durant missed most of last season with a foot injury, he still counts as one of the two most talented basketball players on earth, a 6-foot-10 mismatch who will shoot a three in your eye socket, drive by you in a hurry or score in some other manner he considers easier (or more difficult, whatever). Basketball will be more enjoyable if he returns to health, but a full recovery could spell trouble for R.J. Hunter.

During a recent interview on Comcast Sports, the Boston Celtics rookie said he most looks forward to competing against Durant in the NBA. Hunter did not sound like he expects to shut down the 2014 MVP -- who would? -- but said he wants another chance to guard him.

Another chance? Yes, the two matched up during a pickup game at the Kevin Durant Skills Academy last summer.

"I guarded him in his camp," Hunter explained, "and he gave me like nine straight buckets. So I'm just trying to get one stop."

Hunter's goal brings to mind a motivational speech that prompted one of the greatest upsets in sports cinema history. In the Little Giants, a coach played by Rick Moranis convinced his players it's OK to be completely overmatched by recalling the one time he beat his infinitely more athletic brother in a bike race down Cherry Hill. The memory prompted his players to unleash a series of personal underdog conquests, after which the entire team agreed you don't need to be good to play football. Once settling on that belief, the players realized all they needed to do was beat a bigger, stronger, less physically challenged opponent one time, then used acid indigestion pills to morph into intimidating forces and help score a most improbable victory.

While Hunter owns far more talent than anyone on that youth football team, he might want to find an acid indigestion pill too. Durant is no easy cover.

No matter what happens this season, the Celtics wing has already impressed Durant, who he calls a good mentor. During the aforementioned camp, Bleacher Report's C.J. Moore wrote that Hunter once scored four straight buckets in front of the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar.

"(Durant) just pulled me aside and said, 'You're a really good player. Just keep doing what you're doing,'" Hunter told Moore. "I think we kind of had the skinny thing going on."



bob
MY NOTE: If 6'6", 190# SG RJ Hunter is guarding 6'9" and 7'4" wingspan Durantula we're in a heap o'trouble.


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