If you thought you’d already been dowsed with and drowned in your fill and flood of Jimmer Fredette this, Jimmer Fredette that, Jimmer Fredette here, Jimmer Fredette there, Jimmer Fredette everywhere, and you thought after JimmerMania morphed and simmered into a failed NBA career that silence now — OK, after that 75-point game over in China — was golden, that you were done with it, that Jimmer would just fade away into an office job somewhere, anywhere … uh, not so fast.
He’s baaaaaaaack.
For now at least.
The long-bombing baby-faced killer from BYU all those years ago, from 2007 to 2011, who grabbed both college basketball and sports headlines across the country by the throat and throttled them about with those boy-next-door looks and his incredible shooting, whose pro career, at least the NBA part of it, bombed, too, is attempting to make his mark again at the Paris Olympics, leading Team USA in 3X3 basketball.
If you don’t know what 3X3 basketball is … yeah, you do. It’s the kind of ball you played down at the church gym or over on your buddy Billy’s driveway when you were a kid — half-court, changed possessions required to go back behind the arc, first team to 21 wins, counting made shots by one point, unless they land from deep, then they’re worth two.
Fredette, at 35, is neck deep in that brand of hoops now. When you think about it, it suits his game perfectly — preposterous shooting from distance, without NBA defensive talent interrupting his shot creation, being even more valuable than it is in 5-on-5. In this particular environment, in an Olympic tournament that potentially gains the same gold for the United States as LeBron, Steph and the fellas over in the more traditional tournament are going for, Jimmer is — or at least might become — a star again. NBC and other media outlets are highlighting him and — who knows? — maybe Snoop Dogg and all the other celebs hanging around Paris will cheer him on.
It’s all bringing back deep-buried memories for many of us.
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