Jackson Free Press

Jackson native Lindsey Hunter is part of the Detroit Pistons team that is on the verge of winning the NBA championship. The Pistons lead the Los Angeles Lakers 3-1 in the best-of-7 series entering Tuesday's Game 5 (8 p.m., Ch. 16).

Hunter, a Murrah High and Jackson State alumnus, is in a unique position. He was a member of the Lakers' championship team in 2002. And Hunter, who began his career with the Pistons and returned to the team this season, is the only member of current Pistons roster who played with members of Detroit's Bad Boys dynasty of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president, played with Hunter. And one of Dumars' first big deals after taking over the team was to trade Hunter. He brought Hunter back because of those ties.

"Detroit has been home since I was drafted," Hunter told The Detroit Free Press recently. "That's where my kids were born. That's why getting to the Finals as a Piston means so much. And to be honest, winning a title as a Piston would mean more than winning one as a Laker. … Detroit is the team I started with."