Golden State Warriors guard Ish Smith, left, defends against Sacramento Kings guard Jimmer Fredette during the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Dec., 20, 2011.
Steve Yeater, Associated Press
Last March, ESPN.com columnist Rick Reilly wrote an unflattering article about BYU star Jimmer Fredette and his NBA prospects.
Now, Reilly is eating crow. And paying up.
In his latest column, Reilly admits he was wrong about Fredette.
"It takes me 16 minutes to do Eight Minute Abs. I have a time share in Pyongyang," Reilly writes. "I once asked the ship's captain what time the midnight brunch was. But this is the first time my tiny brain has cost me $5,000. Back in March, I said that BYU hoops star Jimmer Fredette wouldn't be a good NBA player. 'In five years,' I wrote, 'he's got a really good chance to be your Provo area Isuzu dealer.' I was so sure that I said if Fredette started even one game his rookie season, I'd give five grand to his favorite charity. Well, Fredette's a rookie now with the Sacramento Kings and he finally started a game. His first game."
There's plenty more out there on the Web about Jimmer: like how the Kings are sold on Fredette. Another story reports that the Kings need two full-time employees to help fulfill sales orders for his jersey.
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Jeff Call has been a sportswriter for the Deseret News since 1997. He is the BYU beat writer and has been covering Cougar sports since 1993, when he served as sports editor at the Daily Universe. Call has written several more ..
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Bohey: I didn't realize that Rick Reilly was "white". Thanks for clarifying that for me.
There's a lot of things Reilly's wrong about. same for Chris B, Bohey and a whole lot of other Ute trolls. Face it, Jimmer's got "it". Read the Sacramento papers, he is already very highly thought of - as player and as person.
In two games. Jimmer (10th pick) has scored 33 points. Kanter will score his 33rd (3rd pick) point sometime in mid-February.
Ute trolls can go back to cheering for the train wreck on the hill. Nothing to see here.