Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Fred VanVleet Earns NBA All-Star Game Honors
Fred VanVleet is an NBA All-Star.
We've known this was coming for some time now. On one hand, it's no surprise. Just listen to the way coaches around the league talk about him.
"I've always had a lot of respect for him as a player," Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan said Thursday. "When you watch him on film, he's certainly has got a high basketball IQ, and he may not be the fastest guy or the most athletic guy, but he is one of the smartest guys out there and he reads situations and he can tell what's getting ready to happen."
“He’s just so under-appreciated, to me, by the league. I think he’s maybe the most underrated player in the game," Portland Trail Blazers Chauncey Billups said last month. “He can do it all."
And yet, to think of where he was just a few years ago, it still seems unfathomable. He's just the fifth undrafted player in NBA history to earn All-Star recognition, joining Ben Wallace, Connie Hawkins, John Starks, and Brad Miller.
Nobody could have envisioned this back in 2016 when the undersized VanVleet, considered too small, too slow, and too old to be an NBA prospect slid all the way out of the draft. Sure, he spoke with confidence at his draft night party and told everyone that this was "just the beginning" of his story. But, really, could anyone have imagined this story?
"It’s been an unbelievable journey to get here, things that I’ve been through, and just the challenges to get to where I am today," VanVleet said prior to learning of the honor.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse claims he knew there was something special about VanVleet during his rookie season. Then an assistant coach under Dwane Casey, Nurse watched the Wichita State product step up and guard Kyle Lowry in a full-court press during a scrimmage as VanVleet fought for his NBA spot on a team loaded with guard depth. He saw the same toughness that Lowry had been bringing to the team and thought VanVleet could follow suit.
“I’ve always said this: He’s just got a specialness about him. It’s a special compete level. It’s a special feel for the game. It’s a special toughness," Nurse said.
The honor is just the latest in VanVleet's historic career. It adds to a resume that already includes an NBA championship, the single-game scoring record in Raptors history, the largest contract for an undrafted player in NBA history, and, of course, a Finals MVP vote from ESPN analyst Hubie Brown.
Now, he'll be heading to Cleveland on Feb. 20 alongside Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, DeMar DeRozan, Trae Young, James Harden, Zach LaVine, Jayson Tatum, James Harden, Khris Middleton, Jimmy Butler, and Darius Garland as an All-Star reserve as voted on by Eastern Conference coaches.
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