The Toronto Raptors are extremely lucky to have one of the most promising point guards in the league in Fred VanVleet. Toronto’s recent regular-season success combined with a story that comes straight out of a Hollywood screenwriter’s room has helped endear VanVleet to the larger NBA media landscape.
Very few 6-0 points guards make it to the NBA, and even fewer make it out of a school like Wichita State. Fewer still join a contending team as an undrafted free agent, somehow end up becoming a star, and get anointed as the next franchise point guard following the departure of a Hall of Famer.
VanVleet can be very quotable when he wants to. He decided to show off that vivacious personality when he appeared on the “All The Smoke” Podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. In the nearly 90-minute podcast, Barnes and Jackson extracted a ton of interesting quotes out of him.
VanVleet went in-depth about his arrival in Toronto, his championship run, and playing alongside the likes of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. These four quotes stood out as the most interesting VanVleet authored in this very revealing interview.
4 best quotes from Toronto Raptors star Fred VanVleet on All The Smoke
4. Insight on his pre-draft workouts.
VanVleet had a very productive college career at Wichita State, but he didn’t end up hearing his name called in the 2016 NBA Draft. VanVleet worked out for over half the league before the draft, making it even more of a gut punch when he didn’t hear his name called.
“I really was just mad at my agent,” VanVleet said “I did 18 draft workouts…the day before the draft, he’s like ‘you know you might not get drafted, right?’ And I’m like what the f*** did I just do all that for?” Luckily, VanVleet was able to land a training camp deal with Toronto.
Fred VanVleet was thankful the Toronto Raptors snatched him up.
VanVleet said that he liked that Toronto was very upfront with him about his chances when it comes to making the team. VanVleet has made “bet on yourself” a mantra to live by throughout his career, and it all started due to some false hope from his agent placing a gigantic chip on his shoulder.
VanVleet is not only one of the best players in Raptors history and far superior to a good chunk of the selections in 2016, but he’s become one of the best players the game has ever seen that came into the NBA as a UDFA.