Jimmer Fredette, the 2011 Associated Press men’s college basketball player of the year at BYU who went on to become an NBA lottery pick and then played for the U.S. in 3×3 at last year’s Paris Olympics, announced his retirement on Wednesday.
Fredette, 36, was the No. 10 pick by Milwaukee in that 2011 draft. He spent parts of six seasons in the NBA with Sacramento, New Orleans, Chicago, Phoenix and New York. He also played professionally in China and Greece, winning the MVP award in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2017.
The native of Glens Falls, New York, had games of 70 and 75 points during his career in China, including one where he scored 60 points after halftime. He averaged 28.9 points per game for BYU in the 2010-11 college season, leading the country on his way to the AP player of the year award. And in 2023, he was USA Basketball’s 3×3 male athlete of the year.
“Basketball has taken me all around this world: from Glens Falls NY, to BYU, the NBA, China, Greece, and even Team USA at the Olympics!” Fredette wrote in a social media post. “This game and my love for it has shaped me into the person I am today and for that I am forever grateful. So many memories and amazing moments. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always worth it! The next journey starts now.”
The best years of his playing career may have been his final ones, when he turned his attention to 3×3. Fredette was a star in that fast-paced, halfcourt-game sport for the U.S., helping the Americans win gold medals at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup and 2023 Pan American Games along with a silver at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
He entered the Paris Olympics as the top-ranked 3×3 men’s player in the world, with the Americans ranked No. 2 worldwide. He suffered an adductor muscle injury early in the tournament and the U.S. by rule could not replace him on its four-man roster for the Paris Games, so the Americans had to play the rest of the Olympics with three players and no substitutes.
“I owe a lot of who I am today to this game and it’s not easy to say goodbye as a player,” Fredette wrote. “But the time has come.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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