Fred Richard is a man with many interests, and one of them is basketball. Richard is a proud Boston Celtics fan, so it’s no surprise that he stuck around in Paris after the gymnastics events wrapped up, just to cheer on the USA men’s basketball team at Bercy Arena! More recently, he was spotted cheering on Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.

But Richard doesn’t believe in being just a spectator. Or rather, an admirer of the sport. He’s made it clear that it’s just not his style. No wonder he now wants to get in on all the ‘slam and dunk’ action, which is something he is surely working towards. How? Let’s know what the man has to say about this.

Fred Richard has a basketball trick up his sleeve

Fred Richard recently showed up at the TD Garden for the Christmas Day game between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers. Watching the basketball action seemed to have lit a spark within him, as he confessed to Boston Globe Today that he may be significantly shorter, but his skills on the court can match up to the pros, at least when it comes to jumping.

“I can jump very, very high, but I’m still 5-foot-4,” said Fred Richard. He even added, “Like, I can touch the rim, but the little difference to get over the rim and dunk, I’m not there yet. I have a 1-foot difference with a lot of these guys, sometimes more. But honestly, my goal is to get there one day, just for the fun of it.” He clearly doesn’t feel his short stature in comparison to the NBA giants is a limitation. If he does need any motivation, the shortest player to dunk in the NBA was Spud Webb at 5 feet, 6 inches tall. Richard might be 3 inches shorter, but his desire to dunk certainly makes up for it.

However, Fred Richard did joke about his height when he clicked a picture with Jayson Tatum after the match and got a jersey signed by him. He added the pictures on Instagram and wrote, “All I want for Christmas is to look less short-standing next to @jaytatum.” Tatum is 6 feet 8 inches tall, which is a whole foot and four inches taller than Richard!

But whatever the gap is, that is keeping him back from reaching his A-game in basketball, Fred Richard hopes to bridge that as he looks forward to transitioning into a great dunker, just for fun! But has he thought about how will he achieve that? Well, he knows it will take a grind but he’s ready for the ride. “I’d have to train a little bit differently just trying to get my hops higher. That’ll be a fun challenge,” he says. It’s safe to say if Richard did learn to dunk, he would be the first in line to take part in the Celebrity All-Star game.

But is it practically possible? Well, it seems so. Being an Olympic medalist gymnast, Fred Richard has the coordination and reflexes that are needed in basketball. He also seems to have the balance and agility for rapid transitions and complex maneuvers. Again, we’ve seen his power and flexibility, which can come in handy for jumping and dunking.

So yeah, it’s quite achievable so to say. And especially as Fred Richard has been learning from the best in the business. Remember when an NBA Champion had given him a brief, ‘dunking 101’ session?

When Richard got dunking tips from Iman Shumpert

October 2024, Fred Richard uploaded a short video on his Instagram where he was seen learning to dunk from the Cleveland Cavalier alumni, Iman Shumpert. As Shumpert taught the gymnast his signature BIG one-handed putback dunk, he corrected Richard on the way he took his step and his body posture. In the end, Shumpert even lifted Richard by the waist, giving him that elevation for the dunk.

Clearly, the session left Richard feeling that he’d mastered the technique and now he had to tick just one box, “Now I just gotta grow to 6ft and I’ll be slamming it,” he wrote in his caption. And Shumpert showed great faith in him too. He had commented on Fred Richard’s post saying, “Continue to do great things my boy. Can’t wait to watch the rest of your journey.”

In regards to his journey, Richard has already set his sights on the LA Olympics in 2028. “You have to start planning now. What are the hard skills that only a couple people in the world have done? What are these skills I’m going to go after to try to master by LA? So I’m planning these now and starting the building blocks to master them in the future. And it’s exciting, because I want to be two levels higher by LA, dominating,” Richard said.

Richard and the men’s gymnastics team secured Team USA their first medal in the event since 2008 with a bronze in Paris. While he prepares to dominate in LA, being able to dunk will certainly be an additional goal on his list. But is this too big a goal for Richard? What do you think? Let us know below!