The story between Jonathan Kazadi (1.94 m, 34 years old) and basketball is far from over. But it is preparing to change format. The Bernese leader of Friborg Olympic announced that the 2025/2026 season would be his last in five-on-five. The Swiss is already preparing his reconversion… without leaving the courts.
His ambition is clear: to become a full-time professional 3×3 player next summer, with a long-term goal: the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028.
A thoughtful transition to 3×3
Already very involved in the discipline, Jonathan Kazadi does not see this transition as a late bet but as a structured project.
“This season is my last of 5×5,” he explains in the columns of La Liberté. If you manage to be a full 3×3 pro, that means playing from March to November, and not just in the summer. The calendars overlap, it’s difficult to combine the two.” By 2028, the leader will then be 37 years old. “The objective is clearly the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. If we qualify and I am part of the trip, it could be a great end to my career,” he confides.
A decision already made with Friborg
Coming to the end of his contract with Friborg Olympic, Kazadi has chosen transparency. He has already informed the leaders of his intention to leave the five-on-five at the end of the season, so as not to slow down the construction of the future squad. “I didn’t want to mislead them. This way, they can turn to new players to build the future,” he explains. An assumed decision, consistent with his sporting and personal project
An already rich experience in 3×3 at the highest level
Jonathan Kazadi is not arriving in unfamiliar territory. Last June, in Mongolia, he won the silver medal at the 3×3 World Championships with Switzerland, alongside Natan Jurkovitz, Thomas Jurkovitz and Jonathan Dubas. A benchmark performance which reinforces the credibility of its Olympic ambition.
🇨🇭 Jonathan Kazadi CALLS GAME 🔥😮💨 #3x3WC pic.twitter.com/FxgXymHZpE
— 3×3 Basketball | FIBA3x3 (@FIBA3x3) June 25, 2025
A 2025/2026 season hampered by injuries
For this 2025/2026 season, Jonathan Kazadi is still playing with Friborg Olympic. Long away from the field due to an arch injury, which kept him on the sidelines for almost three months, the leader posted solid statistics before that: 7.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 7 assists for 15.5 rating in four Swiss championship games.
He also took part in the quarter-final of the preliminary round of the Basketball Champions League against Élan Chalon, compiling 9 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for 14 ratings in 27 minutes, during a heavy defeat (80-107). A psychology student, he should make his return to competition against the Lugano Tigers this Saturday. Freiburg currently leads the championship with an almost perfect record of 12 wins in 13 matches. The Swiss club has in its squad the Frenchman Alois Leyrolles (2.04 m, 21 years old) (6.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists for 7.1 rating in 17 minutes).
A passage noticed by the French prosecutors
Jonathan Kazadi also experienced the French championship. The Bernese point guard played in Pro A during the 2016/2017 season with Entente Orléans 45, where he averaged 7 points, 3 rebounds and 2.5 assists. The following season, he continued his career in Pro B under the colors of Aix-Maurienne Savoie Basket, averaging 8.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2 assists. Finally, between 2019 and 2021, he wore the Lille Métropole Basket jersey for two seasons still in Pro B, compiling an average of 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists over 56 matches played, confirming his ability to compete over the long term in a dense and demanding championship.
For the former Lille player, the rest of his career is already clearly mapped out with a trajectory now focused on international tournaments… and perhaps the Olympic Games.
