Change Of Fortune

"Money doesn't solve anything," Hunter said. "It gives you the means to pay for the rehabs . . . but the best rehab is love, and that's what we're trying to show him."

There is still pain. All those years of neglect took a toll.

"I can't ever recall my dad coming to any of my games or anything like that when I was a kid," Hunter said. "I know he worked, but some days he was off, and he just didn't come. . . ."

Hunter's eyes turn toward his office window. He stares into the distance. His voice trails off.

Does it still hurt today?

"Sometimes, yeah," Hunter said, fighting back tears. "I'm human. To think about it is sad. But I know there's another kid out there going through the same thing. I want to tell him to keep his head up, stay strong, keep God close, and everything will be all right."

This is why Hunter, who for years hid his family secret, began opening up about his turbulent past in 2005. He hopes to inspire kids from troubled environments.

"I want to let people know that, like everyone else, I have problems," Hunter said. "It may not be a drug problem, but everybody has problems. I want people to know they're not alone."

Especially his son.

"Everything I did not have or did not do or did not see, I make sure my son has it, does it or sees it," Hunter said. "I talk to him about life. We laugh, we have deep conversations about finances, girls. I never had that with my father, and I felt I was behind on a couple things because of that.

"I don't want my kids to go through what I went through. That's why I fly home on off days for [Torii Jr.'s] games. I don't want my son to be 25 and say, 'You were never at my games, you never talked to me.' "

There was one benefit to having a drug addict for a father. It was a strong deterrent to Torii, his older brother, Taru, and younger brothers Tishque and Tramar.

"When you look at your father and see what it does to him, as a kid, you do not want to fall into that kind of living," Hunter said. "That was something I ran away from. It scared us . . . and at the same time, it may have saved us."

The pull of drugs was strong in Pine Bluff, a town of about 55,000 people on the Arkansas River, 40 miles south of Little Rock.

An abundance of pine trees and a scarcity of tall buildings downtown give Pine Bluff a rural feel, but those looks can be deceiving.