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Jimmer Fredette speaks on possible NBA return, 3×3 basketball – Deseret News
Jimmer Fredette spins the basketball during practice for the USA Basketball 3×3 national team on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, in Miami Lakes, Fla.
Lynne Sladky, Associated Press
Jimmer Fredette, the former college basketball superstar, has mostly moved on from his NBA dreams.
He’ll still answer the phone if an NBA team calls, but he’s “made peace with the fact” that his time in the league could be in the rearview mirror, according to The Manila Times, which spoke with the former BYU Cougar ahead of a FIBA 3×3 basketball tournament in the Philippines.
“I’m good. I’ve been there and done that. If teams want to pick me up, great, but that’s not the goal,” he said.
Fredette was in the Philippines with his current team, Miami, to compete in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Cebu Masters tournament. He ultimately played a starring role in Miami’s championship-winning effort.
“The former NBA player (earned) tournament MVP honors. He finished with nine points and four rebounds in the final game,” ABS-CBN News reported about this weekend’s event, noting that Fredette made the game-winning shot.
Miami beat Vienna 22-19 in the final and became the first American 3×3 basketball team to win a Masters-level event since 2019.
𝙅𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙚𝙗𝙪 🇵🇭⭐@JimmerFredette got his first @Maurice_Lacroix ⌚ as World Tour Masters MVP after leading Miami to their maiden #3x3WT win.#3x3WTCebu pic.twitter.com/rfsS2f1PIf
Fredette embraced 3×3 basketball after spending several years playing basketball in China with the Shanghai Sharks and a few years before that in the NBA.
Fredette was drafted 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2011 NBA draft after a stellar college career that saw him win college basketball player of the year, among other accolades. The Bucks traded him to the Sacramento Kings, and he played for the Kings for most of three seasons.
Fredette then bounced around the NBA a bit before joining the Chinese Basketball Association, where he played for around four seasons. He left the Shanghai Sharks after the 2020-21 season in order to spend more time with his family.
“I’ve had a really awesome time being able to be home for the holiday season and now for my kids’ birthdays and everything. I’ve had opportunities to go play in China again, but I felt like it was best for me at this point in our family to stay home and to be here with family and kind of work on some other things. And I’ve had a really, really great time doing it. It’s been a lot of fun,” he told the Deseret News last year.
Last fall, Fredette began pursuing a future in 3×3 basketball and competed for the United States men’s team at the 2022 AmeriCup. He made the game-winning shot for the U.S. at that tournament, as the Deseret News previously reported.
3×3 basketball has much in common with regular basketball, but not, as you might have already guessed, the number of players. Games are played with three players on each side on a shorter court, according to Olympics.com. They last for 10 minutes or until a team reaches 21 points.
“Everything is a little bit different but it’s still basketball, you’re still doing the same moves, putting the ball in the basket and playing defense. It’s taken me a little bit of time to figure out the game, how to play and acclimatize with our guys but ultimately it’s been really a fun challenge,” Fredette told The Manila Times.
3×3 basketball made its debut at the Olympic level in 2020, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“The American men failed to qualify, and Latvia won gold in the men’s eight-team field. The U.S. won gold on the women’s side,” the article said.
Fredette has previously said that he hopes to represent the United States in 3×3 basketball at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Earlier this year, he said doing so would be a “dream come true.”
“I have been obsessed with the Olympics ever since I was 3, 4 years old. I mean, I watch every Olympics and I watch every event. I’m locked in when the Olympics are on. From day until night, it’s always on at least one TV. So, to have an opportunity to be a part of that would be a dream come true for me literally,” Fredette told Olympics.com in January.
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