Former BYU standout, NBA lottery pick, Olympian Jimmer Fredette announces retirement from basketball

Jimmer Fredette has a career arc unlike anybody else. A former BYU standout who became an NBA lottery pick, he went on to be a massive star in China, then transitioned into being one of the top 3×3 players in the world and an Olympian.

That basketball career arc is ending for Fredette, 36, as he announced his retirement from the sport.

“It’s been unbelievable, rewarding, and I definitely can’t complain,” Fredette told NBC Sports this summer before heading to Paris as part of the USA’s men’s 3×3 team. “I mean, what an awesome career I’ve had and it has built me into the person I am today, and not just a basketball player. So it’s been pretty incredible to experience so many cool different cultures and places.”

Fredette led the NCAA in scoring during his senior season at BYU, averaging 28.9 points per game and shooting almost 40% from three-point range, and he was voted the Naismith College Player of the Year.

Fredette was the No. 10 pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in 2011, part of a draft-night trade with the Kings. Fredette was never able to establish himself as a solid rotation player in the league, but he played 241 games across six NBA seasons, averaging six points a game.

The next chapter of Fredette’s career largely unfolded in China. He played four seasons for the Shanghai Sharks, was named league MVP in 2017 and was a three-time All-Star. He also played a season in Greece for Panathinaikos, where he helped it win the Greek League championship.

In recent years, Fredette has been one of the top 3×3 players in the world — he won gold medals at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup and the 2023 Pan American Games — and with that represented the USA in the Paris Olympics.

“It’s been amazing,” Fredette told NBC Sports this summer. “Honestly, it’s been an incredible career. I started off up and down in the NBA, obviously, when I got there, it was some great times and some, some really tough times. Kind of a roller coaster at that point. And then I ended up going to China and really had a great career over in China and in Europe. And now to be a 3×3 and be able to be on what is considered one of the best teams in the world and, and to have a chance to go to the Olympics and play in the pinnacle of athletics. It’s been unbelievable.”

And it won’t be forgotten by fans for a long time.