I was on Instagram tonight and saw this post about Jimmer Fredette on The Church of Jesus Christ official Instagram Page. My heart feels for him.
The Olympics have been interesting. I have gone and watched clips here and there. The games have had high points and low points. The opening ceremonies had a mockery of the Last Supper with Jesus Christ and his disciples being portrayed by a lesbian and drag queens. It finished off with Celine Dion singing like an angel. Hey, it is what it is at this point. They mocked Christians, we didn’t like it, but we all moved on.
The competition had winners and losers. There were Olympic and World Records being broken. The games were full of joy, heartbreak, scandal, tragedy, and even cardboard beds. There were a number of LDS competitors in the games.
- Taylor Booth – USA Soccer – Did not medal (8th place)
- Make Unufe – USA Men’s Rugby – Did not medal (8th place)
- Stephanie Rovetti – USA Woman’s Rugby – Bronze Medal
- Alexis “Lexi” Lagan – USA Woman’s Air Pistol – Did not medal (25th place)
- Jimmer Fredette – USA Men’s 3×3 Basketball – Did not medal (7th place)
- Whittni Morgan – USA Woman’s 5000-meter – Did not medal (14th place)
- Courtney Wayment – USA Woman’s 3000-meter Steeplechase – Did not medal (12th place)
- Kenneth Rooks – USA Men’s 3000-meter Steeplechase – Silver Medal
- James Corrigan – USA Men’s 3000-meter Steeplechase – Did not qualify
- Nagmeldin “Peter” Bol – Australia 800-meter – Did not qualify
- Conner Mantz – USA Men’s Marathon – Did not medal (8th place)
- Clayton Young – USA Men’s Marathon – Did not medal (9th place)
Meet Latter-day Saints Competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics (churchofjesuschrist.org)
The event I was most excited to see was the Men’s 3×3 basketball with Jimmer Fredette. My feelings about BYU are that I cheered for BYU when they aren’t playing Utah. I know that sounds funny. For most of my adult life, I have preferred Utah over BYU. But, I have always loved seeing local kids succeed no matter the school they attended.
Jimmer Fredette is an interesting one. I never saw him play for BYU. I didn’t follow the Jimmer Mania that took place during his time at BYU. However, I started following him when he was drafted into the NBA. I learned that he was one of the most talented basketball players to play the game. Yet for some reason he couldn’t break through in the NBA. On the outside looking in, it seemed he lost the magic he had while playing at BYU. Or, he wasn’t given an adequate opportunity in the NBA and the critics beat him down.
What is the truth? He bounced around for 6 seasons and 5 different teams in the NBA. Every critic would say he was given the opportunity and didn’t measure up. He eventually washed out of the NBA and ended up playing in China, then Europe, then back to China. In China, he was a star. He was king of the basketball court with stats rivaling top NBA players. But it was China and the league is looked at as inferior to the NBA.
I was excited when I learned he would be in the Olympics representing the USA in 3×3 basketball. But, after the Olympics started there wasn’t any news on the 3×3 basketball. I looked around and eventually saw they lost, then they won, then they lost. The game schedule was difficult to understand because they kept playing and playing even though they kept losing. A few days later I saw that Team USA had been eliminated.
I felt bad for Jimmer. I had hoped so much that this deeply talented young man would be redeemed and the world would see just how talented he is. Then I found out he was injured. That explains a lot. I must say, this was the biggest disappointment of the Olympics for me. Not that we had to win, but that I truly wanted him to win. I wanted everyone who thought he wasn’t good enough to see that he was.
I have always felt the Jimmer Fredette story was fairly similar to the Tim Tebow story. In both cases, you have these amazingly talented kids who for some reason aren’t able to shine in a professional league. And it does seem that God has another path or plan for them.
So, when I saw this statement by Jimmer Fredette today, my heart was touched. Jimmer has his head on straight. He knows who he is. He knows that his Eternal worth is greater than any game, team, or medal. Hearing those words from him made me respect him even more than I already did.
Jimmer Fredette is a true hero. I applaud you.