Bryant Dunston

Bryant Dunston
Bryant Kevin Dunston Jr. (born May 28, 1986) is an American-born naturalized Armenian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the senior Armenian national team in international competition. Standing at a height of , Dunston plays at the center position.
Dunston has won the EuroLeague Best Defender award twice, and also reached the EuroLeague Final in 2015, while playing for Olympiacos. In 2011–12, he was the top rebounder in the Israel Basketball Premier League. Dunston earned an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in 2017.
Early life
Dunston was born in southern Kentucky, and grew up in LeFrak City, Queens. He is a graduate of St. John's Preparatory High School. He is the nephew of former professional baseball player Shawon Dunston, a former No. 1 pick in the MLB.
College career
Dunston attended Fordham University, where he played college basketball with the Fordham Rams. He finished his collegiate career by being named to the First Team All-Metropolitan, Second Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference, and Atlantic 10 Conference All-Defensive Team.
In his college career, Dunston appeared in all 120 of Fordham's games, starting in 118 of them. He finished his college career in second place on Fordham's all-time scoring list, with 1,832 career points, in third place on Fordham's all-time rebounds list, with 993 career rebounds, and as Fordham's career blocked shots leader, graduating with 294 career rejections.
Professional career
Dunston played with Mobis Phoebus in the Korean Basketball League. In 2010, he signed with the Greek League club Aris, but left the team in February 2011.
After leaving Aris, he signed with the Israeli League club Bnei HaSharon. Following the 2010–11 season, Dunston joined the Israeli League club Hapoel Holon. In 2011–12, he was the top rebounder in the Israel Basketball Premier League.
Reports said that Dunston was on the verge of signing a guaranteed contract with the NBA's Brooklyn Nets in the summer 2012. However, he joined the Italian League club Pallacanestro Varese instead.
Olympiacos
On July 9, 2013, Dunston signed a two-year contract with Olympiacos. In his first EuroLeague season, he averaged 10.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and league-leading 1.3 blocks over 29 games played. Olympiacos however finished the participation in the EuroLeague by losing 2–3 to Real Madrid in the quarter-final series. On May 6, he was voted the EuroLeague Best Defender of the season.
On May 6, 2015, he was named the EuroLeague season's Best Defender for the second season in a row.
Anadolu Efes
On June 23, 2015, Dunston signed a two-year contract with the Turkish club Anadolu Efes. On May 18, 2017, he signed a two-year contract extension with Anadolu Efes.
On May 23, 2019, Dunston signed another two-year contract extension with the club. He signed a two-year extension on July 26, 2020, with an option for another year. On November 6, Dunston was ruled out for a month following an eye injury.
On April 29, 2023, Dunston was involved in a car accident, with his car getting trapped under a semi-truck in Istanbul and suffered minor injuries only. Anadolu Efes later announced that he was in good general health and under observation.
On June 29, 2023, Dunston amicably parted ways with the Turkish powerhouse after eight seasons together.
Virtus Bologna
On August 25, 2023, Dunston signed a two-year (1+1) contract with Italian powerhouse Virtus Bologna. On 24 September 2023, after having ousted Olimpia Milano in the semifinals, Virtus won its fourth Supercup, and the third in a row, defeating 97–60 Germani Brescia.
National team career
On June 16, 2015, he was included on the list of candidates of the senior Slovenian national basketball team for the EuroBasket 2015, by team selector Jure Zdovc. However, he didn't get a Slovenian passport in time, so he wouldn't represent Slovenia at the EuroBasket.
In June 2016, Dunston arrived in Yerevan, to represent the senior Armenian national basketball team in the 2016 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries.
Career statistics
EuroLeague
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2013–14
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2| Olympiacos
| 29 || 21 || 24.7 || .670 || .000 || .566 || 5.3 || 1.0 || 1.1 || style="background:#CFECEC;"|1.3 || 10.3 || 15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2014–15
| 29 || 25 || 19.4 || .543 || .000 || .618 || 4.4 || .6 || .8 || 1.1 || 7.1 || 9.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2015–16
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan=4| Anadolu Efes
| 24 || 15 || 21.0 || .604 || .000 || .655 || 5.0 || .8 || .5 || 1.1 || 7.9 || 11.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2016–17
| 35 || 34 || 28.9 || .551 || .000 || .679 || 6.2 || 1.1 || .6 || 1.1 || 10.7 || 14.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18
| 30 || 28 || 28.0 || .645 || .333 || .697 || 5.4 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|1.7 || 10.2 || 15.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19
| 36 || 32 || 26.1 || .640 || .333 || .701 || 4.9 || 1.3 || .8 || 1.2 || 8.9 || 13.5
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:left;"| Career
| style="text-align:left;"|
| 183 || 155 || 25.0 || .608 || .250 || .665 || 5.2 || 1.1 || .8 || 1.3 || 9.3 || 13.3
Awards and accomplishments
College
Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year: (2005)
Second Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference: (2005)
First Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference: (2006)
Second Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference: (2007)
First Team All-Metropolitan: (2008)
Second Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference: (2008)
Atlantic 10 Conference All Defensive Team: (2008)
Professional
Israeli Super League Quintet: (2012)
FIBA Intercontinental Cup Champion: (2013)
2× EuroLeague Best Defender: (2014, 2015)
Greek League Champion: (2015)
Greek League Best Defender: (2015)
Turkish President's Cup: Winner (2015)
Turkish BSL All-Star: (2017)
All-EuroLeague Second Team: (2017)
Turkish Cup Winner: (2018)
References
External links
Bryant Dunston at draftexpress.com
Bryant Dunston at esake.gr
Bryant Dunston at eurobasket.com
Bryant Dunston at euroleague.net
Bryant Dunston at fibaeurope.com
Bryant Dunston at legabasket.it
Bryant Dunston at sports-reference.com
Bryant Dunston at tblstat.net
1986 births
Living people
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American sportspeople
African-American basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Greece
American expatriate basketball people in Israel
American expatriate basketball people in Italy
American expatriate basketball people in South Korea
American expatriate basketball people in Turkey
American men's basketball players
Anadolu Efes S.K. players
Aris B.C. players
Armenian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Armenian men's basketball players
Armenian people of African-American descent
Basketball players from Queens, New York
Bnei HaSharon players
Centers (basketball)
Fordham Rams men's basketball players
Greek Basket League players
Hapoel Holon players
Lega Basket Serie A players
Naturalized citizens of Armenia
Olympiacos B.C. players
Pallacanestro Varese players
Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus players
Virtus Bologna players
Naturalised basketball players