Trade to L.A. Lifts Hunter Out of Funk

Lindsey Hunter Sr., 51, sat on the edge of some bleachers Monday night and watched his son become a Laker, finally.

Lindsey Hunter Jr., 30, held the left shoulder of a No. 11 jersey, gold and purple. Mitch Kupchak, the Laker general manager, held the right shoulder.

The son smiled and said he was glad to be here, glad for the trade that brought him from the Milwaukee Bucks to the back-to-back NBA champions, to a backcourt that needs another jump shooter or two, particularly with the injury to Derek Fisher, who is scheduled for surgery today.

The father smiled and crossed his arms. It had been some days since he had smiled. His younger son, Tommie, had died June 16 in a single-car accident near their home in Raymond, Miss.

Tommie was 19. At the end of the summer he would have enrolled at Jackson State, where his older brother had starred, to play basketball.

“It’s been tough,” Lindsey Sr. said. “It’s something I don’t want to see any parent go through. It’s nothing you can describe, seeing one of your children lying in a casket. I can’t even describe to you how I feel.”

He turned up his head to catch the moisture welling in his eyes.

It is a trying time for the Hunters, for Lindsey Sr. and Lindsey Jr., for Armenta Hunter, Tommie’s mother, and Ivy Hunter, Lindsey Jr.’s wife. The men gamely called the trade, which sent Greg Foster to the Bucks, an uplifting event in an otherwise devastating two weeks.

The Lakers were Lindsey Sr.’s team, following them first in the Jerry West years and not ever letting go. In the June 1993 draft, according to legend, West would have selected Hunter with the 12th pick.

“It’s the place I wanted to be,” Hunter said. “It never happened.”

The Detroit Pistons took Hunter with the 10th pick, and the Lakers selected George Lynch. In eight seasons since, the first seven with the Pistons, Hunter has averaged 11.1 points, made 37.7% of his three-point shots and become a sound defender.

“I’ve been working out, I’ve been running,” he said. “Especially after I heard about the trade, it kind of re-energized me.”

It was something else to think about, if nothing else.

“That had everybody down,” Hunter said. “It was really tough. We’re still going through some trials with it, but . . . He was a good kid. That happened, and that had everybody down. This really lifted us up and gave us hope for good things to come.

“We were really close, really close. My dad and I, my mom, we hadn’t gotten much sleep these weeks. When this happened, the trade happened, it kind of gave us a little relief. My dad was extremely happy. I was extremely happy. It kind of settled us down a little, going in a new direction, a new place, an exciting place, a first-class organization. That’s all you can ask for.”

If the stress fracture in Fisher’s foot does not heal in time, Hunter probably will open the season as the Lakers’ point guard. Despite an off shooting season, he brings a spot-up shooter to an offense that needs it, particularly if opponents bury Shaquille O’Neal in bodies, as the new rules will allow.

“Whatever the situation is, I’ll be ready,” he said. “I hate the fact that Derek was hurt. He had a tremendous playoffs. You hate to see anybody, especially a person like Derek, get injured. It can really get you down. I hope he gets healthy. I look forward to playing with him.”

Lindsey Sr. looked on.

“I’m so happy for him,” he said. “He’s been through a lot.”