With a silky, smooth jumper of unlimited range, Brigham Young guard Jimmer Fredette once captured the hearts of college basketball fans nationwide while causing his opponents to fear the impending avalanche of points he was about to drop.
After briefly retiring, the sharpshooting guard has created a stir in the basketball world again — this time with the 3x3 game. Fredette entered the Olympics as the No. 1 ranked 3x3 player in the world. In the first game for Team USA, vintage "Jimmermania" was on display. He hit a stepback crossover 3-pointer over a defender's outstretched hands that splashed in. But so far, it's been a rough 0-4 start for the American team that came to Paris with high hopes. Fredette picked up a leg injury during pool play Wednesday that left him sidelined for at least two games.
The 100% NCAA 3x3 men's team built momentum the past couple of years. Since joining the team in 2022, Fredette has been collecting hardware with teammates Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis.
- Gold at the 2022 FIBA 3x3 Men's AmeriCup.
- Gold at the 2023 Pan American Games.
- Silver at the 2023 FIBA 3x3 World Cup.
It's been a quick acclimation for the 35-year-old.
"These guys have been doing a great job of bringing me up to speed in a year and a half, and I'm starting to feel a little bit more comfortable," Fredette said before Olympic play began. "And we feel really comfortable as a group. I think that's the biggest thing. Being able to have us play for a year and a half together is something that our USA team hasn't had for a long time."
Fredette joined the 3x3 squad with a resume full of accomplishments at the collegiate and professional level:
- During his senior year at Brigham Young, Fredette led the Cougars to the Sweet 16 before falling to Florida in overtime, led the nation in scoring with 28.9 points per game and earned National Player of the Year honors. During his 2007-11 career, he set 11 school and six Mountain West Conference records. He also scored 52 points in a game against New Mexico and scored over 40 points on six different occasions. In 2011, he even caught the eye of President Barack Obama, who said of Fredette, "Unbelievable. Best scorer obviously in the country. Great talent."
- He was drafted No. 10 overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and played six seasons in the league.
- He won the Chinese Basketball Association's International MVP award in 2017 and averaged 34.3 points per game in four seasons with the Shanghai Sharks.
It was Fredette's experience though at Brigham Young that he looks back at fondly. The time management skills and personal development gained in college helped shape him as an athlete.
"Playing in the NCAA was one of my favorite times ever," he said. "To learn how to be a student-athlete andbe able to work on your game by yourself when no one else is watching and then continue that throughout the rest of my career to get better at things that I feel like I needed to get better at. I only have fond memories of playing at BYU and in the NCAA tournament."
When the opportunity came to represent his country in this sport that only became Olympic-sanctioned in 2020, he couldn't turn it down.
"It means a lot obviously to put on the USA jersey every single time and feel pride for your country," he said.
Fredette said playing in the Olympics was a lifelong dream that he didn't know was possible.
"For a basketball player, you only think about the 5x5 team. Generally speaking, it's the 10 best NBA players that are American usually playing that. So at some point, you're like, 'Oh, man, I don't know if we're going to make that,'" he said. "And then this opportunity popped up for 3x3 basketball to be in the Olympics and still play a game that I love in the biggest stage in the world."
The differences in the style of play between 3x3 and 5x5 accentuate Fredette's skills. He described the NBA and 5x5 as being a little more matchup focused.
In 3x3, Fredette's knowledge of the game and ability to move without the ball is a strength.
"In 3x3, it's not necessarily just a one-on-one game. It truly is a lot of ball movement, slash, actions that we run to get open shots because they can be so physical with you, a lot of times when you're trying to play one-on-one, they can put their hands on you, and they can make you do something you don't want to do. So it just doesn't work quite as well."
The 3x3 game is played half court, and the only stoppage of play comes on fouls or turnovers. After a made basket, the opposing team has 12 seconds to rebound and clear the ball behind the arc before scoring.
"There's a lot of different just little actions and offensive sets that they run that you don't necessarily see in 5x5. Like when you're playing a ball screen, the guy just kind of stays behind the ball screen until he makes the decision. Make the defense make a decision then kind of roll to the basket, all these little things that you can do that you can't in 5x5," he said. "So it took me a while to adjust to it and not always just come to the ball and be right next to people, create that spacing, the timing, and then obviously a 12-second shot clock is another thing. It's very, very fast paced. So I mean, you have to think on the fly."
