{"id":803253,"date":"2026-08-05T07:26:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/803253\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T07:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:26:17","slug":"get-to-know-nba-champion-and-birmingham-native-trey-jemison-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/803253\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to Know NBA Champion and Birmingham Native Trey Jemison III"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>NBA champion Trey Jemison III calls out directions during a free youth basketball camp Tuesday in Hoover. (Marika N. Johnson, File, For The Birmingham Times)<\/p>\n

By Ameera Steward | For the Birmingham Times<\/p>\n

To the world, Trey Jemison III, standing at 6\u201910 and 280 lbs., is a center for the New York Knicks, who just won their first NBA championship in 25 years. But to Birmingham he\u2019s a friend, a student, a neighbor; to Birmingham he\u2019s a part of our community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do travel a lot, I live in New York, I have a house in Dallas, and I lived in LA, but I\u2019m a Birmingham kid through and through,\u201d Jemison exclaimed. \u201cMy faith, my hard work, my determination, and grit I\u2019ve gotten from the city of Birmingham.\u201d<\/p>\n

Made For This<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old grew up in Center Point, where his love for basketball started.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always a tall kid\u2026I was 6 ft in the fifth grade,\u201d Jemison said. He would occasionally play with his mom, and his dad would coach him. So, with the natural talent and the support of his parents, Jemison thought, \u201cI\u2019m just going to keep playing.<\/p>\n

From there, he played Amateur Athletic Union [AAU] basketball and church league basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just loved playing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jemison attended several high schools during his high school career, including Ramsay High School and Homewood High School, but he graduated from Hoover High School in 2018.<\/p>\n

After high school, he attended Clemson University until 2020, when he transferred to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where he found his faith.<\/p>\n

After losing his grandparents, Eloise and Willie McNeely, 14 days apart, Jemison said he \u201ckind of gave into the lifestyle of college \u2014 partying, drinking, being out all night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all of that, I found this emptiness,\u201d Jemison said. \u201cI was sad, I was lonely, I was depressed. I just didn\u2019t know where to turn. And then I hit rock bottom, and the only thing at the bottom was Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he still played during his college career, he said, \u201cmy last two years at UAB, I was going to stop playing basketball\u2026I wasn\u2019t in love with it [and] kind of over it.\u201d He was interning at Brasfield & Gorrie in Birmingham, and they were offering him a job after his internship, so he was also considering that route.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a \u2018come to Jesus moment,\u2019 prayed to God\u2026[I said] \u2018Hey God, what do you want from me\u2026what\u2019s the best thing for me?\u2019 And God reminded me that he blessed me with being 6 \u201810, 280 pounds. He said, \u2018I want you to go use it\u2026I gave you those gifts for a reason.\u2019 So, I locked in\u2026and God opened pathways I never even imagined, and it\u2019s been a blessing ever since,\u201d Jemison said.<\/p>\n

\"\"During his last season at UAB in 2023, Trey Jemison III realized he could make a career out of basketball. (Provided)<\/p>\n

During his last season at UAB in 2023, Jemison realized he could make a career out of basketball after seeing just how good he was at the sport. Jemison didn\u2019t get drafted. But that didn\u2019t discourage him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a draft party on draft night, they called 58 names that night and none of them were my name,\u201d Jemison said. So, after that, he ended up playing for the G League in Birmingham, \u201cwhich was great for me, and I played\u2026really well, and after so long I got an NBA call-up for the Washington Wizards,\u201d which was the start of his NBA career in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the longest streak of double-doubles in Squadron history and the night I lost the record\u2026I was already mad, and I got my call-up,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI ended up crying on the side of the road\u2026one of the best days of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Career Goals<\/p>\n

After playing professionally for only three years, Jemison won the 2026 NBA Championship with the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s huge,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of guys go 10 to 15 years without sniffing the NBA Championship\u2026I was just in awe [when they won] because\u2026this little kid from Birmingham, Alabama [moves to] New York City to win an NBA championship\u2026that had to be God.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it hasn\u2019t come without struggle; his biggest challenge has been the mental aspect of it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to focus on my own career, not trying to worry about what other people are saying or where other people\u2019s careers are going; Just [trying to focus on] what God has for me,\u201d Jemison expressed. \u201cThat\u2019s been the biggest challenge.\u201d But Jemison also counts the struggle as one of his biggest blessings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve matured so much in that area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Although winning the NBA Championship has been a big step in his career goals, one of his main goals is to \u201cplay 10+ years and provide for me and my family\u2026 and to stay healthy and make a lasting impact on, not just my family, but people around me\u2026that\u2019s the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s on his way to accomplishing that goal; in 2024, he began weekly Bible studies on his social media to impact the minds and hearts of his followers.<\/p>\n

Jemison believes many people avoid discussions about spirituality because they don\u2019t understand faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I try to make it as plain as possible, and hopefully that blesses somebody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also recently hosted in Hoover a free basketball camp for youth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Biggest Blessing\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to adding ways to make a lasting impact on the people around him, Jemison will also fulfill a personal goal this year.<\/p>\n

\"\"Trey Jemison III will marry his fianc\u00e9e Alex Glover, whom he calls \u201cmy biggest blessing.\u201d (Provided)<\/p>\n

In August 2026, Jemison will extend his family by marrying his fianc\u00e9e Alex Glover, whom he calls \u201cmy biggest blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

They met in 2024 when he came across her on social media, and while watching one of her segments, he thought to himself, \u201cthis girl\u2026is gorgeous.\u201d<\/p>\n

He took his shot, slid into her DMs, and she responded a day later. It just so happened that he was in Vegas for summer league, and his layover on his return was in the same city Alex was living in at the time.<\/p>\n

Jemison asked her to get lunch with him during his layover.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe became really close\u2026like best friends, and the moment I left I thought, \u2018that\u2019s a phenomenal woman,\u2019\u201d Jemison recalled.<\/p>\n

A year later, Jemison decided to propose. \u201cIf God gives me a yes, I\u2019m going to handle my business,\u201d he said he thought to himself before popping the question. \u201cI had so much peace with it, and it has been my biggest blessing ever since. I wouldn\u2019t trade her for nobody in the world; I fall more and more in love with her every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cShe\u2019s someone who doesn\u2019t care about me playing basketball, who couldn\u2019t care less about me playing good or bad, she just likes seeing me happy and pushing me toward God.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also adopted Glover\u2019s fur baby as his own \u2014 Bruno, a 6-year-old golden brown Irish Doodle making them a family of three.<\/p>\n

With the championship and the proposal in the last two years, Jemison said he is feeling \u201cphenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy life has completely changed,\u201d Jemison expressed. \u201cIt feels like God came into my life and just multiplied everything\u2026once I sat, obeyed, and locked in\u2026everything changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"With the support of UAB Eye Care experts, Trey Jemison took steps to prevent sports-related eye injuries. (New York Knicks)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBA champion Trey Jemison III calls out directions during a free youth basketball camp Tuesday in Hoover. (Marika…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-803253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}