Jimmer Fredette is hanging up his sneakers.
After a winding basketball career that featured National Player of the Year honors at BYU and ended in the Olympics, Fredette is retiring from basketball. Fredette announced his decision on Instagram Wednesday. He’s 36 years old.
“Ever since I was young, I was obsessed with basketball,” Fredette wrote. “Seeing the basketball go in was magical. I wanted to play it every day. …
“Basketball has taken me all around the world: from Glen Falls, NY, to BYU, the NBA, China, Greece and even Team USA at the Olympics! This game and my love for it has shaped me into the person I am today and for that I am grateful. …
“It wasn’t always easy, but it was always worth it! The next journey starts now.”
Jimmermania takes over NCAA
Fredette burst onto the national basketball scene during a four-year NCAA career at BYU from 2007-11. A 6-2 guard, Fredette joined the Cougars as a three-star recruit and played 35 games off the bench as a freshman. He secured a starting role as a sophomore, then led the Mountain West in scoring as a junior and senior.
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An electric scorer, Fredette was the consensus National Player of the Year as a senior while averaging 28.9 points, 4.3 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals and shooting 39.6% on 8.5 3-point attempts per game. He broke Danny Ainge’s all-time BYU scoring record.
The Cougars made the NCAA tournament in each of Fredette’s four seasons. They earned a No. 3 seed in 2011 and advanced to the Sweet 16. Fredette was a national sensation.
Winding pro career from NBA to overseas
Fredette rode that momentum into the NBA draft lottery. The Sacramento Kings swung a draft-night trade to acquire Fredette from the Milwaukee Bucks, who selected him with No. 10 pick in the 2011 draft, one pick after the Charlotte Hornets selected another undersized scoring guard in UConn All-American Kemba Walker.
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While Walker developed into a four-time All-Star, Fredette struggled to find his footing in the NBA. Fredette shot 38.6% from the field while averaging 7.6 points as a rookie in Sacramento. That turned out to be his NBA career high.
Fredette went on to play the next five NBA seasons with the Kings, Bulls, Pelicans and Knicks. But he spent most of his career deep on NBA benches while playing anywhere from 2.5 to 14 minutes per game after his rookie season.
In 2016, Fredette turned the page on the NBA and joined the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association, where he immediately rediscovered his footing. Fredette was named the CBA’s 2016-17 International MVP after averaging 37.6 points in 41 games. He put up single-game point totals of 51 and 73 points during his MVP season.
After two seasons in the CBA, Fredette made a brief return to the NBA in 2018-19 that last six games with the Phoenix Suns. From there, his career took him to Greece and back to Shanghai in 2020. But the COVID-19 pandemic ended Fredette’s CBA career by 2021, and he returned home to the U.S.
Fredette’s reinvention as 3×3 player
In 2022, USA Basketball recruited Fredette to play for its 3×3 team ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. USA Basketball missed the cut for the sport’s 2021 Olympic debut in Tokyo, an embarrassing development for the world’s long-established basketball power.
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Fredette was eager to play in the format that could highlight his scoring prowess and helped lead USA to a silver medal at the 2023 World Cup ahead of Paris. By the time the Olympics rolled around in 2024, Fredette was the No. 1 ranked player in the World in FIBA 3×3. He made his Olympics debut in Paris at 35 years old.
Unfortunately for Fredette, he suffered torn adductor ligaments in USA’s second game of pool play and wasn’t able to complete his Olympic experience. But he made the journey and played as an Olympian. And now he’s moving on to the next phase of his life.
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