Former BYU Star, NBA Player Jimmer Fredette Is Shining In The Basketball Tournament

Around 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday night, Jimmer Fredette caught a pass on the right wing, bended his knees and showcased a perfect form on his jump shot, just like he had done so many times years ago in college and the NBA. When the ball swished through the hoop, Fredette’s 3-pointer had clinched The Money Team’s second round victory in The Basketball Tournament, a winner-takes-all event for $1 million.

The stage may not have been the same as Fredette experienced at BYU, where he was a national sensation and the 2011 player of the year, or in the NBA, where he was a first round draft pick but only appeared in 241 career games over six seasons.

Still, Tuesday’s game was broadcast on ESPN2, and TBT has cemented a place on the summer calendar at a slow time for live sports. That gives Fredette the chance to play in front of a U.S. television audience for the first time in more than three years, back when his NBA career ended with a whimper.

Fredette, who turned 33 years old in February, scored 29 points in TMT’s opening round victory on Sunday and added 21 in Tuesday’s win over Men of Mackey, a team that featured several former Purdue players. So far, Fredette has made 9 of 23 3-pointers and all 13 of his free throw attempts.

Fredette has played in TBT before in 2018 when he averaged a tournament-best 31 points per game and led Team Fredette to the semifinals. This year, he decided to play for The Money Team, a team sponsored by legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather, even though Fredette hadn’t played professionally since April 2021 when he was on a team in China.

Fredette told ESPN.com last month that he opted against playing during the 2021-22 season because his wife was pregnant with the couple’s third child. Still, he told the website that he had stayed in shape and continued working out while taking a playing hiatus.

“It’s always great,” Fredette told ESPN.com of playing in TBT. “At this point, it’s just about trying to win. Just doing whatever it takes to advance. I was fortunate last time to have a really great tournament, be the leading scorer. That’s cool, but it’s about surviving and advancing. It’s about trying to win these games and move forward. Get toward that $1 million.”

Fredette returns to action on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 in the Round of 16 when TMT plays Red Scare, a group of former University of Dayton players. The game will be at the University of Dayton Arena, as will the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship, which takes place on Aug. 2.

TMT features two other players with significant NBA experience: 6-foot-8 power forward Trevor Booker, who appeared in 538 games in eight seasons, and 6-foot-9 forward Jeremy Evans, the 2012 slam dunk champion who played in 250 games in seven seasons. Fredette told the BYU Sports Nation radio show last month that he was asked to play for TMT this year by Jordon Crawford, a former teammate with the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League and a longtime friend of Floyd Mayweather.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ Fredette said.

He added: “At this point, it’s just fun, honestly. It’s a fun tournament. It’s kind of like an AAU tournament for older guys. You kind of just show up with your flip flops on, you don’t have to go through anything. You just show up, warm up for 20 minutes and then play the game. And you have some great group of guys you can get together, your own group of guys that you go out there and play with. Also, I didn’t play basketball this season. It’s fun to be able to get out and play some competitive basketball in front of fans and kind of just go out and do my thing.”

For Fredette, the TBT fans are much more encouraging and positive than some NBA fans who grew frustrated at times with his lack of productivity and defensive struggles. As a rookie in the 2011-12 season, Fredette started seven games and averaged 7.6 points per game for the Sacramento Kings. But after that, Fredette never started another NBA game and never averaged more points in a season. He last appeared in the league late in the 2018-19 season when he signed with the Phoenix Suns and played in six games.

Fredette, though, has had more success overseas, especially in China, where he averaged more than 36 points per game in the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons for the Shanghai Sharks. After spending the 2019-20 season in Greece, Fredette returned to the Sharks the next season and averaged 26.9 points per game.

Despite the ups and downs in the NBA, Fredette earned more than $8.6 million in salary, according to Spotrac. He reportedly made millions more with his overseas teams.

During the interview with BYU Sports Nation last month, Fredette said he wasn’t sure with whom or even if he’ll play professionally this coming season.

“Honestly, I truly don’t know at this point,” Fredette said. “I’ve played for a little over 10 seasons at this point, I’ve had a great professional career, and I obviously feel well enough to be able to continue to play. But it’s going to definitely take the right situation for me to go into. I’m not worried necessarily as much about the money of it or anything like that. I’m more concerned about lifestyle, family, being able to enjoy my time wherever it is that I go…It’s definitely more about fit than money at this point.”