It isn’t his ultimate dream. It isn’t his boyhood goal of the NBA. But in his world, Jimmer World today, he’s king.
Fredette is playing for Yao Ming’s Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association. And he is dominating once more.
This journey took Fredette 7,400 miles away from his home near Denver to a different culture in an exotic part of the globe that has welcomed him with open arms.
Here’s the rub. How many times in a lifetime can a NCAA Player of the Year sort of repeat that brand of magic created in a very special college season? Well, if you’re a white point guard from BYU, probably never.
Until now.
The Chinese appreciate Fredette’s skill, his acumen and his uncanny shooting accuracy from distance. They are amazed at the volume of points he delivers and the massive impact he has on the game in the league they call their own.
The Chinese watch Fredette pull up from 28 feet. He launches. There’s the arc. It goes down. It’s Jimmer Ball.
The CBA’s most successful American players have to be high volume scorers or they get cut. They are brought from the USA to entertain, according to Will Shao, a Chinese basketball expert, speaking to ESPN.
The most successful American has been Stephon Marbury, one in a group that has included former Houston star Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin.
Fredette is closing in on Marbury fame.
They call Fredette the “Lonely God,” the “Loneliness Master,” an honorable trait in China; it denotes invincibility.
Fredette was named Asia's Player of the Month in both December and November of last year.
Fredette’s NBA career took a sharp detour the past year, going from the New York Knicks to free agency and then China after he turned down an offer to play this fall in the NBA’s Developmental league.
Fredette found the NBA a place where his unique style of play and defensive liabilities were unwelcome, but this land once called the Middle Kingdom, cannot get enough of him.
As during the days when he put up incredible point totals at BYU, he’s doing it again for the Sharks. In one of his first games for Shanghai, Fredette scored 51 points. This past weekend, he had 50 in a loss to the Sichuan Blue Whales.
Fredette is the CBA’s scoring leader, averaging 37.4 points a game with a 40.9 percent accuracy from distance.
His 92.8 percent accuracy from the free-throw line in China is levitating above the NBA’s all-time free throw mark of 90 percent by the likes of Stephen Curry and Steve Nash. The dimensions of a free-throw shot, three-point line, rim height and ball size are all the same.
Yes, the CBA is light years from the NBA in terms of talent. It isn’t as competitive as the Euroleague. But it is a basketball realm. And it has its conquerors and legends. And Fredette has become one.
The only thing that’s slowed Fredette down on the court in China is a sprained ankle he suffered against the Liaoning Flying Leopards this past week.
Fredette has converted the Chinese to Jimmermania. The New York Post’s sports writer Mark W. Sanchez put it this way: “The cult of Jimmer Fredette was never embraced by the NBA. In China, each launch from beyond the arc gains a believer.”
“First off, Fredette can score a bunch without taking too many shots,” said Shao. “He is able to motivate and lead his teammates and they like him a lot.”
An American with a bad attitude can’t last in China. An inconsistent American scorer won't stick around either.
The Chinese see Fredette as a kind, friendly, respectful athlete, who smiles easily, makes time for fans and shows gratitude for the opportunity to play. He’s an iconic dagger thrower whose supreme confidence in his shooting range and delivery is Marvel Comic like.
In China, Fredette recently signed a shoe contract with a Chinese company called 361 Degrees. It is part of the country’s move to take advantage of his burgeoning popularity. He even had his Twitter account hacked and somebody posted falsely he was quitting basketball.
According to a blog posted by Jimmer's brother TJ, he has four full days off due to the Chinese New Year holiday and he will return to Denver to see his wife Whitney, who is expecting their first child in March. This past week Jimmer put on a clinic for Chinese youth and spoke to an LDS Church group. "Jimmer is humbled by these fulfilling experiences and he is always so willing to generously give of his time," TJ wrote on his blog. "With all the on-court accolades and successes, nothing is more important to Jimmer than the positive impact that he has been able to have off the court."
The last time I talked to Fredette was early this fall at Sleepy Ridge Golf Course at a charity event. He was hopeful, yet uncertain, of what his days would be like as he embarked on foreign soil in a country he’d never set foot in before. He said he was in the best shape of his life and had lost a bit of weight to gain some speed.
Fredette said he’d ride this China contract through this season, which will end in February. With the China season ending so early, if given the chance, he could return to the NBA.
It seems his entire life has been about chances.
In China, he’s taken the chance that was given and delivered his brand.