Antonio Hester

Antonio Kurtis Hester (born May 22, 1990) is an American professional basketball player. In 2018, he won the Icelandic Basketball Cup with Tindastóll and in 2014, he won the Peruvian championship with Real Club de Lima.

Antonio Hester
Njarðvík
PositionForward
LeagueÚrvalsdeild karla
Personal information
Born (1990-05-22) May 22, 1990
Miami, Florida
NationalityAmerican
Listed height198 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Listed weight90 kg (198 lb)
Career information
High schoolMiami Norland (Miami, Florida)
College
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012–2013Turun NMKY
2013–2014Atletico Nacional
2014Real Club de Lima
2014–2015CB Tarragona
2015–2016Miami Midnites
2016–2018Tindastóll
2018–2019Starwings Basel
2019–2020Bàsquet Girona
2020Força Lleida
2021–presentNjarðvík
Career highlights and awards

College

Hester was named NAIA Third-Team All-American in 2012 after averaging 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds for the University of Mobile.[1]

Career

In 2012, Hester joined Turun NMKY of the Finnish First Division.

In 2014, Hester played for Real Club of Lima in the Liga de Basket de Lima,[2] helping them win the Peruvian championship in July that year.[3]

He played for CB Tarragona during the 2014–15 LEB Plata season, averaging 13.4 points and 7.6 rebounds.[4] In September 2014, he helped the club to victory in the LEB Catalan basketball league and was named the finals MVP.[5]

In August 2016, Hester signed with Tindastóll of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla.[6] A month later, Tindastóll released Hester to sign Mamadou Samb.[7] In November, Tindastóll brought Hester back as a part of a major roster overhaul where they fired head coach José Maria Costa and released Samb and Pape Seck.[8][9][10] For the season he averaged 23.5 points and 10.7 rebounds in 32.0 minutes per game.[11] Tindastóll finished third in the league but despite home court advantage, it lost to Keflavík in the first round of the playoffs.[12]

In June 2017, Hester re-signed with Tindastóll for the 2017–2018 season.[13] In November 2017, Hester injured his ankle badly and was initially thought to have broken it.[14][15] Further tests revealed that the ankle was unbroken and that recovery time would be in weeks, not months.[16][17]

On January 13, 2018, Hester helped Tindastóll to its first major title when it won the Icelandic Basketball Cup.[18][19]

For the season, Hester averaged 20.6 points and 8.7 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per game,[20] helping Tindastóll to a 16-6 record[21] and the third seed in the playoffs.[22]

In the playoffs, Tindastóll swept Grindavík, 3-0, in the first round,[23] advancing to the semi-finals against ÍR. In the fifth game of the semi-finals on April 13, 2018, Hester injured his ankle. Despite the injury, Tindastóll prevailed in the game and advanced to the Úrvalsdeild finals.[24] Although hobbled, Hester played in the first game of the finals series against four-time defending champions of KR. There he injured his other ankle after trying to block a shot from Brynjar Þór Björnsson,[25] resulting in him missing game two of the series.[26] Without him, Tindastóll staged a spirited performance, blowing out KR on their own homecourt, 98-70, and tying the series at one game apiece.[27] After the season he was named the Úrvalsdeild Karla Foreign Player of the Year.[28]

In December 2018, Hester signed with Starwings Basel of the Swiss Basketball League.[29] In 14 games, he averaged 19.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

Hester spent the 2019–2020 season with Bàsquet Girona in LEB Plata where he averaged 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds in 25 games. On August 27, 2020, he signed with Força Lleida.[30]

In January 2021, Hester returned to Iceland and signed with Njarðvík.[31]

Awards, titles and accomplishments

Individual awards

Titles

References
  1. "Antonio Hester Named 3rd-Team All-America". umobilerams.com. University of Mobile. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  2. "Real Club tie Peruvian title series 2-2". court-side.com. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  3. "Real Club de Lima wins Peru Liga". court-side.com. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  4. "Antonio Hester rebutja l'oferta del cbt". cbtarragona.cat (in Spanish). CB Tarragona. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  5. "El CBT, campió de la Lliga Catalana LEB amb un final d'infart". delcamp.cat (in Spanish). 28 September 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  6. "Seck Pape Abdoulaye og Antonio Kurtis Hester til Tindastóls". feykir.is (in Icelandic). 25 August 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  7. "Mamadou Samb í stað Kurtis Hester". feykir.is (in Icelandic). 4 September 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  8. "Tindastóll losar sig við erlenda leikmenn og þjálfarann - Martin tekur við". karfan.is (in Icelandic). 14 November 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  9. "Ótrúleg leikmannavelta Tindastóls síðustu 13 mánuði". fusijama.tv (in Icelandic). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  10. "Körfuboltakvöld: Innkoma Antonio Hester í lið Tindastóls". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). 27 November 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  11. "Úrvalsdeild karla Domino´s deildin (2017 Tímabil) - Antonio Hester". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Federation. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  12. Jóhann Ingi Hafþórsson (24 March 2017). "Keflavík sendi Tindastól í sumarfrí". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  13. "Hester áfram hjá Tindastóli". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 27 June 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  14. Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (10 November 2017). "Antonio Hester ökklabrotinn". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  15. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (10 November 2017). "Antonio Hester er ökklabrotinn - „Mikið högg fyrir félagið"". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  16. "Hester óbrotinn". feykir.is (in Icelandic). 17 November 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  17. Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (18 November 2017). "Hester byrjaður í endurhæfingu". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  18. Jóhann Ingi Hafþórsson (13 January 2018). "Tindastóll bikarmeistari í fyrsta skipti". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  19. Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (13 January 2018). "Tindastóll er bikarmeistari 2018". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  20. "Úrvalsdeild karla Domino´s deild karla (2017-2018 Tímabil) - Antonio Hester". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Federation. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  21. "Úrvalsdeild karla Domino´s deild karla (2017-2018 Tímabil) - Staða". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Federation.
  22. Magnús Logi SIgurbjörnsson (8 March 2018). "Tindastóll endar í þriðja sæti". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  23. Hákon Ingi Rafnsson (16 March 2018). "Umfjöllun og viðtöl: Tindastóll - Grindavík 96-92 - Stólarnir mörðu Grindavík í spennutrylli". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  24. Kristinn Páll Teitsson (14 April 2018). "Ökklameiðsli Antonio Hester ekki alvarleg". Fréttablaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  25. Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (20 April 2018). "Hester var „augljóslega ekki tilbúinn að spila"". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  26. Eiríkur Stefán Ásgeirsson (22 April 2018). "Hester: Brotnaði niður þegar ég sagði þeim að ég myndi ekki spila" (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  27. Eiríkur Stefán Ásgeirsson (22 April 2018). "Umfjöllun og viðtöl: KR - Tindastóll 70-98 - Stólarnir svöruðu með stæl". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  28. Henry Birgir Gunnarsson (4 May 2018). "Kristófer og Helena valin leikmenn ársins". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  29. Georges Küng (7 December 2018). "Antonio Hester verstärkt die Starwings: Das Tabellenschlusslicht verpflichtet einen neuen Hoffnungsträger". bz Basel (in German). Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  30. "El interior Antonio Hester, nueva incorporación del ICG Força Lleida". FEB.es (in Spanish). August 27, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  31. Davíð Eldur (5 January 2021). "Antonio Hester til Njarðvíkur". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 5 January 2021.
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