It's been more than a year since former BYU sensation Jimmer Fredette played in an NBA game. News that he was joining the New York Knicks sparked a rapid round of Jimmer-mania in March 2016, but that stint lasted only about a week and ended with a four-point performance (all free throws) in three minutes played.
That doesn't mean the mania has subsided for his biggest fans -- including the most fanatical Fredette supporter of all, his older brother TJ.
After dabbling in rapping, TJ Fredette is now concentrating on a career in film. In his spare time, he blogs about his younger brother, who posted huge scoring numbers and won the international MVP award in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) this past season.
Due to health reasons, TJ isn't able to make the 13-hour flight to China. Instead, he gets updates from thousands of miles away and documents every single bit of Jimmer's life online.
"I had anxiety issues when I was in high school, which really kept me from reaching my full potential," said TJ, who was also a skilled basketball player growing up in Glens Falls, New York. "But I've got to live through Jimmer, and that's why I am so excited to see what he did."
TJ, 34, is seven years older than Jimmer, and they would spend hours every day playing basketball.
"I was tough on him. I would run up and block his shots. I never took it easy on him," TJ said. "Every time Jimmer got the ball, I would just swat it. I swatted it to the fence, and a couple of times I swatted to his face. I was just being brutal. I knocked him down a couple of times."
As Jimmer grew up, his older brother came up with unorthodox drills to help him improve. One of them was an exercise at a local church, where Jimmer had to dribble through a pitch-dark hallway while his brother and other friends tried to jump out from different rooms to steal the ball. Another drill was called "the world's championship challenge," where Jimmer had to make at least 15 consecutive foul shots to advance to the top level in this made-up league. TJ would simulate situations where Jimmer played different teams in seasons, playoffs and tournaments.
In the Fredette clan, everything is a family decision. Last summer, despite initial interest from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets, no NBA teams made Jimmer an offer. When the Shanghai Sharks came calling, the family decided it was simply too risky to continue to wait.
"I was thrilled about the decision right away," TJ said. "China really looked like the best option. It is a thriving market. Basketball is growing leaps and bounds over there. The whole family agreed that the opportunity to play there was great."
Since Shanghai ended its season in early March, Jimmer has back been in Denver spending time with his family while looking for a door to open in the NBA. TJ shrugs off criticisms that his brother's defense is a big enough disadvantage to keep him out of the league.
"Jimmer just needs to land with the team that plays really good team defense and utilizes [him] the right way, puts him in the position to score and let him play," he said.
When Jimmer scored 73 points in a February game in China, many attributed his high-scoring performance to the CBA's lack of competitiveness.
"Anybody who can score 70, 80 points in any professional league is a flat-out stud when it comes to scoring," TJ said. "I mean, if some call it a cakewalk in China, I would tell them to go over there and play. So acting like it's nothing is really naive."
ESPN Insider Kevin Pelton translated Jimmer's CBA stats to the NBA in January -- projecting the guard for about 19 points per 36 minutes -- and noted that he had showed little else other than a scoring touch.
"Honestly, I'm not sure anything Fredette has done this season in the CBA will change the minds of NBA scouts and coaches," Pelton wrote. "If he's going to stick in the NBA, it will probably have to be as a point guard, and Fredette has done little playmaking this season -- his translated assist average is a little worse than the 3.7 assists per 36 minutes he has averaged in his NBA career to date.
"Given his size and athleticism, Fredette will always be at a defensive disadvantage against NBA shooting guards, and his ability to create his own shot hasn't been enough to make up for that."
It's still too early to know where Jimmer will be next season, but if you ask his older brother, Shanghai still sounds like the best option.
"I'd rather see him go back to China, because I [like] what he is building there on and off the court," TJ said. "The sky is the limit in China for Jimmer, and the opportunities are only growing. Stephon Marbury proved that you don't have to be in the NBA to have an incredible professional basketball career, and I see Jimmer following in his footsteps."