Jimmer time: Fredette’s passion for 3×3 basketball fuels him to go for gold at Paris Olympic Games
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- American basketball player Jimmer Fredette, 35, answers questions during an interview on Wednesday April 17, 2024 in New York.
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- Team USA basketball athletes, Mitch Hahn, right, and Jimmer Fredette, talk with people before departing for the Paris Summer Olympic games, on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Atlanta.
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- Jimmer Fredette practices for the USA Basketball 3×3 national team, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, in Miami Lakes, Fla. USA Basketball announced its men’s 3×3 roster for the Paris Games on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, going with the same foursome that won a silver medal at the World Cup and gold at the Pan American Games last year.
Jimmer Fredette has played at the highest levels of basketball, taking him from Glens Falls, N.Y., to Provo to the NBA and overseas to China and Greece.
Now it’s taking him to Paris and the 2024 Summer Olympics, but in a slightly different version of the sport.
Finding a passion for 3×3 basketball took the former college player of the year by surprise.
“The way this sport works, you either really like it or you don’t like it at all,” Fredette said in an interview with the Daily Herald. “That people love it or hate it, I see the reasons why. It’s difficult, there’s a lot of travel involved all across the world. Sometimes you travel 36 hours for a tournament and if you lose two games you’re done in like 20 minutes. You kind of have to roll with the punches. You’re not playing on amazing courts all the time and sometimes the hotel are not so good.
“But it’s just been an awesome experience to get to compete. There’s just so much emotion in 3×3 basketball and it’s different than 5-on-5. You have some gut-wrenching losses where some guy just throws the ball over his head to get to 21 and you’re so mad, like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ But to advance to the next round and win a tournament is so exciting. You just feel every emotion. It’s been fun for to understand that emotion and fully care about the sport.”
Fredette and his family — three young children, wife Whitney (a former BYU cheerleader) and her parents — arrived in Paris on July 17 in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games. Fredette and his teammates (Canyon Berry, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis) are one of the favorites to medal in Paris.
Just before Fredette’s interview with the Daily Herald, Team USA took over the No. 1 spot in the world rankings.
“Serbia has been No. 1 for a long time,” Fredette said. “They are still probably considered the team to beat at the Olympics. We’ve been working hard to get better. People know when they see us in a tournament we can win it if we play well.”
Fredette was contemplating retirement from professional basketball after the 2020 pandemic prevented him from playing in Europe. Former college coach and ESPN personality Fran Fraschilla had been tasked with finding talent for the US 3×3 roster and set up a lunch with Fredette in Denver. That discussion in the spring of 2022 intrigued Fredette and he made his debut in 3×3 basketball in the 2022 Red Bull USA Basketball East Regional, his team winning the title. Fredette’s style of quick-trigger 3-point shooting and slashing drives made him perfect for the fast-paced action of 3×3. Think about the old-school “NBA Jam” video game and that pretty much describes the tempo and atmosphere of 3×3 basketball.
Jimmer Mania still exists. Recently Fredette was walking to the team’s practice facility in Marseille when a man on a motorcycle stopped in the middle of the street.
According to a story in the NBC News site, the man exclaimed “Is that Jimmer?” even as drivers behind him started honking impatiently. “Jimmer! Jimmer!” The man came over to the sidewalk to get a photo and have a chat.
Fredette said he plans on making the most of his first experience at the Olympics and will march with the other US athletes in the opening ceremony on July 26.
“We don’t play until the 30th so we have a little bit of a buffer to rest,” he said. “The opening ceremony is kind of a late night and a lot of walking and standing, but it’s 100% worth it. I’m pumped to be part of it with the other amazing athletes.”
Fredette said he and his family are learning as much French as they can and reading up on tourist attractions like the Eifel Tower.
“My older two children (Taft and Wesley) kind of understand what Dad is doing going over to Paris to play basketball,” Fredette said. “Wesley loves dancing and ballet so we really want to go see some gymnastics, though that’s one of the hardest tickets to get. The good thing about 3×3 is that the games are short so its a good attention span sport for kids.”
Fredette was recently at the Big 12 Football Media Days in Dallas and said he has been impressed with what new Cougar basketball coach Kevin Young is doing in Provo.
“He’s done an incredible job so far, even though he hasn’t coached a game yet,” Fredette said. “He’s brought a cache to BYU not many people would be able to do. He got really good recruits in the building and he’s getting them ready to play. It’s very different than what we’ve seen in the past. He’s been able to coach the best players in the world at the highest level and was up for NBA head coaching jobs. I think the recruits feel like Provo is a legit spot to play and get ready for the NBA. It’s amazing for BYU and I’m really looking forward to the season.”
What’s next? Fredette, who is nearing 40, is keeping his options open and may just find another way to re-invent himself after he’s done in Paris.
“I could see myself going in any direction after the Olympics,” he said. “I’m ready to go and finish this part of the journey, then I could do something completely different. I’m not sure yet, to be honest. It’s all up the air. It really depends on how I feel after the Olympics. We’ve been working so hard to prepare to reach this goal and now we’re here. Who knows what will happen after that with the body and the mind?”
A total of nine current and former BYU athletes will be competing in the Summer Olympics, including Fredette, marathon runners Conner Mantz, Clayton Young and Rory Linkletter (who is competing for Canada), steeplechasers Kenneth Rooks, James Corrigan and Courtney Wayment, 5,000-meter runner Whitni Orton-Morgan and Rugby Sevens athlete Stephanie Rovetti (a former Cougar basketball player.)
BYU Athletes 2024 Paris Olympics Schedule
Jimmer Fredette, 3×3 Men’s Basketball
Pool Play
Tuesday, July 30
USA vs. Serbia, 2:35 pm MT
Wednesday, July 31
USA vs. Poland, 2:35 pm MT
Thursday, August 1
USA vs. Lithuania, 11:05 am MT
USA vs. Latvia, 3:05 pm MT
Friday, August 2
USA vs. France, 10:35 am MT
USA vs. China, 2:35 pm MT
Sunday, August 4
USA vs. Netherlands, 11:05 am MT
Monday, August 5
Semifinals
10 a.m. MT, 11 a.m. MT
Bronze Medial Game
1:30 pm MT
Gold Medal Game
2:35 pm MT
Conner Mantz, Clayton Young and Rory Linkletter (Canada)
Marathon
Saturday, Aug. 10
Noon MT
Courtney Wayment
Women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase
Sunday, Aug. 4
Round 1, 2:05 a.m. MT
Kenneth Rooks, James Corrigan
Men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase
Monday, Aug. 5
Round 1, 11:04 a.m. MT
Whitni Orton Morgan
Women’s 5,000 meters
Friday, Aug. 2
Round 1, 10:10 a.m. MT
Stephanie Rovetti
Women’s Rugby Sevens
Sunday, July 28
USA vs. Japan, 8:30 a.m. MT
USA vs. Brazil, noon MT
Monday, July 29
USA vs. France, 7:30 a.m. MT
