Jimmer Fredette Discusses EuroLeague Shutdown Over Coronavirus, Traveling Back To U.S.A.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Former BYU star and current Greek basketball guard Jimmer Fredette discussed the EuroLeague shutdown over COVID-19 concerns and making his way back home to the United States during an a episode of the Thurl Talk Podcast with Thurl Bailey.

Earlier this year, Fredette had been playing his first season in EuroLeague for the Greek basketball club Panathinaikos. In the middle of March, the former BYU star’s season was interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We were having a good season. Things were going really well and we were playing well and I was having a lot of fun. You know the family was over there and just enjoying the European life,” said Fredette. “It was a nice change up and then all of the sudden we kind of heard all of the stuff that was going on in China with the virus at first and didn’t know exactly what to think much of it.”

.@jimmerfredette has been a point scoring sensation for his new side @paobcgr as he leads them in scoring with an average of 14.5ppg

Enjoy some of his best plays so far #GameON 👏 pic.twitter.com/8Igjy1QR2D

— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) November 4, 2019

As a member of the EuroLeague, Panathinaikos plays games in multiple countries across Europe including Italy. The country of Italy and primarily Northern Italy has been severely impacted by the coronavirus disease.

“We continued to play and continued to work,” continued Fredette.”Then it (coronavirus) started seeping into other countries, specifically in Italy and Northern Italy. In the Euroleague, we play against Milan which is in Northern Italy so that was a big concern first thing for the Euroleague. So the Italy league shutdown first and from there it all just kind of came tumbling down after that and we were kind of just in a waiting game knowing that our season was gonna get suspended at some point and ultimately in mid-March the Euroleague and the Greek league both got suspended.”

Check out this week’s episode of Thurl Talk! We had a great discussion https://t.co/Gi8AYawWKB

— Jimmer Fredette (@jimmerfredette) April 14, 2020

After Fredette’s season was halted, the guard had to wait for clearance from Panathinaikos in order to return home to the United States.

“I was on a flight about two or three days later, after our team gave us permission to go home,” said Fredette. “I got back to the U.S.A. safely.”

Fredette was able to reach American soil safely but the process wasn’t quick and easy.

“The customs to get through the U.S.A. took me about six or seven hours to get through that day,” Fredette said. “Everyone was trying to get home from Europe and different places. So it was pretty crazy but just a unique experience.”

The former BYU basketball star said he’s happy to be back at home during the pandemic rather than alone with Europe.

“I’m glad to be here in Denver with my family and enjoying the time with this,” said Fredette.

 

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Today is Taft’s first birthday! We are so grateful to have him in our lives! Even in these difficult times it’s really awesome to be able to spend so much time with family be celebrate. That’s what’s most important in this world and we are trying to cherish every moment. We hope everyone out there is safe and healthy and trying to find the positives under these extraordinary circumstances! #happybirthdaytaffy #weloveyou

A post shared by Jimmer Fredette (@jimmerfredette_32) on Mar 28, 2020 at 6:35pm PDT

While he’s spending time with his wife and two kids, the Panathinaikos guard doesn’t know what the future holds for his EuroLeague team.

“There’s not a whole lot of closure right now for the season. We’ve been playing for six or seven months already,” Fredette said, “Having a chance to make the playoffs and make a final four run in the Euroleague. We had a talented enough team. You know it all got shut down…Definitely no real closure for the basketball season right now.”

Fredette appeared in 27 games including 24 starts during the 2019-20 EuroLeague season. He averaged 12.9 points on 52.5 percent shooting in just over 21 minutes per contest.

Former Utah Jazz and NBA player Thurl Bailey is the host of the Thurl Talk Podcast. After more than a decade playing in the NBA as Big T for the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves, Thurl has seen a thing or two. And he still has things he wants to learn. He’s a musician, father, husband, and friend and he’s interested in talking with people. That’s what he’ll do each week on Thurl Talk: share his own life experiences and learn from the stories of others. Whether it’s about his life on the court, behind a mic or sitting at the kitchen counter, count on getting to know the real Thurl Bailey and maybe learn a little something from his friends.

Subscribe to the Thurl Talk Podcast here. 

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