Kyle Guy - Jimmer Fredette 2.0?
Newest addition to Phoenix team looks very promising... and very similar to his boss (managing director of the USA 3x3 Men's National Team) few years ago. Can we expect Kylemania in 3x3?
Another NBA veteran is joining FIBA 3x3! Let’s take a closer look at the new addition to the Phoenix team - Kyle Guy, announced recently at USA Basketball official webpage. Let us introduce you to this player in more detail, a classic hooper with ice in his veins.
Kyle is the 6’1” tall (185 cm), sharpshooting guard who helped Virginia win the 2019 NCAA title as a junior. He earned Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors (!), and became a fan favourite for his clutch play and smooth shot. For these of you, who are not really into NCAA: Guy earned it after leading Virginia to the national championship — he averaged 20+ points in the Final Four and hit several massive shots, including the game-winner against Purdue in the Elite Eight. MOP is the college basketball equivalent of a Final Four MVP on steroids.
Drafted 55th overall by the Knicks in 2019 (landed with Sacramento), the Indianapolis native bounced around the NBA for a few seasons with the Kings and Heat, knocking down threes off the bench.
He looked a little different back then:
After his NBA run wrapped up in 2022, Kyle Guy headed overseas for two solid seasons. He played in Spain for Joventut Badalona (2022–23), then split time between Greece (Panathinaikos) and Spain again (La Laguna Tenerife/CB Canarias in 2023–24), where he put up some of his best pro numbers as a scorer and shooter.
At age 26, he decided to retire from playing in the summer of 2024 (!). He returned to his alma mater Virginia as an Athlete Development Mentor/Special Assistant, finished his degree, and dipped his toes into coaching.
But the competitive fire wasn’t fully out — he came out of retirement in late 2025 to join the Noblesville Boom (G League affiliate of the Indiana Pacers), showing that he still got it, just take a look!
And now we have him in our beloved territory - 3x3 basketball:
If you haven’t noticed the similarities between him and Jimmer Fredette yet, here are the most obvious ones:
Both are undersized guards (around 6’1”–6’2”) known for their pure shooting strokes and ability to score in bunches. Offensively gifted with deep range and the ability to create their own shot off the dribble or catch-and-shoot. Defensively challenged, which limited their pro minutes.
Both became March Madness legends. Jimmer had “Jimmer Mania” with logo threes and massive scoring outbursts. Jimmer was the 2011 NCAA scoring leader (28.9 PPG) and National Player of the Year. Kyle was a clutch performer who averaged over 20 PPG in the 2019 Final Four and won Tournament Most Outstanding Player while leading Virginia to the title.
Both were drafted (Jimmer 10th overall in 2011, Kyle 55th in 2019) and landed with the Sacramento Kings. They had limited roles as bench shooters in the NBA due to size, defense, and athleticism limitations, then bounced around or went overseas.
Both explored European basketball, had brief retirements/coaching stints, and showed they couldn’t fully walk away from competitive hoops (including 3x3 now!). Fun fact: Jimmer played for Phoenix (Suns) too :).
Is that enough? We don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to see Kyle on the World Tour and (perhaps) on the US national team!
His predecessor was unlucky in 3x3 - his dreams of an Olympic medal were dashed by an injury, and his shot for the world championship went in… and then bounced out of the rim:
But it is now history, version 1.0… This time it can be totally different.
Good luck, Kyle! Welcome to the 3x3 basketball family. See you at the tournaments!
P.S. This is just one of the changes to the World Tour teams at the start of the 2026 season. You can find a great summary in Bas Rozendaal’s post - while we focused on March Madness heroes, he took a step further to explore next month:
You know I'll be tuned in to his debut!