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Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet has jokingly thrown shade at the media after securing the bag. The former Wichita State star inked a four-year, $85 million extension with Toronto on Saturday and made a joke with reporters on Tuesday, claiming they need to take it easy on him now that he's a paid man, per the Athletic's Eric Koreen.
"I wanna give thanks to you ugly media people who have treated me pretty nicely over the last four years," VanVleet said. Says he doesn't want us to start s****** on him now that he makes big money.
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) November 24, 2020
VanVleet was signed by the Raps as an undrafted free agent and has gone on to emerge as one of the most impactful players on Nick Nurse's roster over the last two seasons. His production has skyrocketed year by year, coming off a career-best season where he dropped 17.6 points per night and dished out 6.6 assists.
The 25-year old broke onto the scene during Toronto's title run in 2019, proving to be a difference-maker off the bench as they went on to beat the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. Last season, he broke into the starting lineup and profiles to be one of the Raptors' key pieces in their backcourt for the distant future, especially with Kyle Lowry not too far off retirement.
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He also led Toronto in scoring during the 2020 playoffs, where the Raptors were knocked out in the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the Boston Celtics.
VanVleet has always been well-liked by the media, answering whatever questions they ask on any given occasion. Mr. Bet on Yourself has carved out quite the career for himself and at the rate he's developed over the last couple of seasons, the best is yet to come from VanVleet, especially considering he finally got a much-deserved payday.
He'll also continue to be one of the most popular talents in the league amongst reporters.
