Toronto Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet had a party filled with friends and family during the night of the 2016 draft. That evening was supposed to be a celebratory night.
However, VanVleet wasn't drafted by a team, and suddenly, things got awkward at his party.
In typical VanVleet fashion, though, the Raptors guard turned a negative into a positive. He grabbed the microphone to address his guests and said he was going to bet on himself. VanVleet later took to Twitter that night and tweeted “bet on yourself.”
Four years later, FVV is now a one-time champion and owner of a lucrative contract. While speaking to Raptors reporters about his new deal, VanVleet talked about that famous “bet on yourself” tweet and the draft party he had.
“At that time, I might have been one of a handful of people who believed that, but here we are today. I guess it's more interesting to see how you have to be on your own, standing on your own two [feet], and do it that way and then people will follow you and jump on the bandwagon and they will start to see it after you make them see it,” Raptors guard Fred VanVleet said, via ESPN.
“That's the fun part for me, seeing how this following is kind of growing and watching everybody try to pretend to be underdogs and adopt the ‘Bet on yourself' thing. It's becoming mainstream now, which is hilarious to me.”
The Raptors signed VanVleet to a four-year, $85 million contract. He's now the highest-paid undrafted player in NBA history.
During the 2019-20 season, VanVleet averaged 17.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game.
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