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Fred VanVleet. NBA Champion. Fred went undrafted in 2016. Signed with Toronto Raptors Summer League team. During his rookie year, he had repeat appearances for the Raptors 905 (the Raptors’ D-League team). D-League Champion in 2017. Finished as a finalist for Sixth Man of the Year in 2018. In 2018-19, he made his mark on the league, playing hounding defense on Stephen Curry and delivered big shots time and time again. Undrafted to NBA champion in three seasons, the former Wichita State Shocker shattered every expectation during the 2019 playoffs. When he welcomed Fred VanVleet Jr. into the world, there was an expectation he would struggle further because he was already in a shooting slump, couple that with the trend of little to no sleep most parents of newborns get and you have a recipe for disaster. Not so with FVV; he kept trusting his stroke and it kept falling. The league had never seen a box-and-one before. It largely worked because of Toronto’s terrific defensive tenacity and organization, but if you don’t have a capable ONE to chase, hound, harass, and generally defend the GREATEST SHOOTER OF ALL TIME in Steph Curry, then the defense cannot work. If you watched any of the Finals, you could conceivably excuse Fred for not having anything left in the tank on offense because of his defensive responsibilities, but he acted like a more athletic version of 2015 Matthew Dellavedova on defense, and a more rangy version of 2011 JJ Barea, and was a HUGE factor in the Raptors bringing the Larry O’Brien trophy outside of the United States for the first time. The point of all of this is to say that VanVleet has vehemently proven that to doubt him is a dangerous proposition and his determination will dominate whatever obstacle you throw his way. https://www.rrstar.com/sports/20160624/fred-van-vleet-signs-with-toronto-raptors https://nba.nbcsports.com/2018/05/16/lou-williams-eric-gordon-fred-vanvleet-finalists-for-sixth-man-of-the-year/ https://thebiglead.com/2019/05/24/fred-vanvleet-hasnt-missed-since-his-son-was-born/ If you'd like to support: Venmo - @Evin_Gual Cash App - $EvinGual Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/evin_gual
