Fred VanVleet was born in Rockford, Illinois when Fred Manning and Susan VanVleet welcomed
a bouncing baby boy on February 25th, 1994. He has two brothers Darnell and J.D.
VanVleet and his family stayed in a not-so-great part of town where crime was rampant.
Fred’s dad was shot and killed when Fred was five in a drug bust gone wrong.
Susan ended up re-marrying Joe Danforth who was a police officer. Fred’s eight-grade teammate
was shot in the neck. His stepdad was on duty and watched him bleed
to death. Joe was tough on the kids because he didn’t want them suffering the same fate.
Career VanVleet remains one of the
unsung stars in the NBA today after he was voted to his first NBA All-Star game in 2022. He became
the FIRST undrafted player to earn such an honor in 16 years since Ben Wallace did it back in 2006.
But it wasn’t just last year VanVleet had a star-caliber season…
He’s been on tear for a while, now. After playing in the shadows in Toronto
behind stars Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, Fred came of age in the 2018-19 season when
he got the call up to play heavier minutes. And VanVleet really swung on the opportunity.
VanVleet made a name for himself in the 2019 NBA playoffs when he played
arguably the best stretch of basketball. Fred took OFF the day after his son was
born in May of 2019. From that point on, until the last Finals game the Raptors played against
the Golden State Warriors, VanVleet reeled off an 8-game stretch averaging nearly 17 points.
That included one of the greatest performances EVER by an undrafted
player in the closeout game 6 of the Finals. VanVleet poured in 22 points and converted
on 5 of 11 3-pointers. And how about some of the shot-making he put on display down
the stretch of the ballgame that helped deliver Toronto their first title in franchise HISTORY!
In fact, VanVleet played so well that he even received votes for FINALS MVP over his superstar
teammate Kawhi Leonard. Think about that…
An undrafted player received votes for being the BEST player through a Finals series.
It didn’t happen but it’s incredible to point out, nonetheless.
And that performance lit the fire under VanVleet and helped launch
his career to even greater heights. VanVleet became a starter after that
season and averaged career-highs across the board. And only continued that trend
as he progressed as a full-time starter. A year-and-a-half later, VanVleet AGAIN
made history when he scored 54 POINTS in February against the Orlando Magic…
The MOST points scored by an undrafted player in the HISTORY of the game.
In fact, Moses Malone had the long-standing record of 53 points way back in 1982.
Did I mention that performance was the greatest scoring outburst in RAPTORS franchise history?
And there have been a WHOLE lot of stars that have come and gone in a Raptors uniform…
The last few years, he has averaged 20 points per game. VanVleet is looking to continue that trend.
Now let’s see how Fred stacks that bread! Contracts
VanVleet’s career thus far has been the epitome of the age-old “started
from the bottom… now we’re here.” At just 22 years old entering the
NBA from Wichita State, VanVleet signed a 2-year deal worth a little over $1 million.
After seeing improvement and showing flashes of stardom, Toronto upped
their offer to two years $18 million . Two years later he proved his worth and
played all-star caliber ball. The Raptors rewarded VanVleet with a long-term extension worth 4-years,
$85 million and committed to him as the face of their franchise. That’s
an average of about $21 million per year. That right there is just a quick snapshot
of what VanVleet has meant to a franchise that’s become notorious for being unable to retain stars.
VanVleet IS Toronto… and they love him. And now after his first all-star appearance,
there is probably going to be PLENTY more from where that came from…
Let’s just say VanVleet has a HUGE payday lined up for him when his contract expires
in 2024, or even SOONER. Get that paper, Baby!
Shoe Deal After his impressive title run,
the recognition continued to roll for Fred. As a result, Fred signed a multi-year contract
with AND1, becoming the face of the rising sneaker brand as one of the most
recognizable athletes in all of Canadian sports. He started his career wearing Nike and Adidas.
But now he is at the forefront of his own signature shoe deal.
VanVleet’s signature shoes features the ‘Attack 2.0’ line. The shoe line
has several colorways and editions to his name including the Jurassic Park editions.
Fred the opted to sign with Li-Ning. The Chinese shoe brand has come up a lot on our videos as they
have signed many players away from the traditional brands. They have launched the Fred VanVleet Speed
series. We like the Speed 8 and there are plenty of other cool editions out there.
Talk about creating your own path! Now let’s see how Fred spends that paper.
Cars Before VanVleet’s big payday, he drove a
white Audi A7 he got back in his second season. But when he landed his big extension,
it was time to take it up a few notches. So, VanVleet went for The Mercedes-Maybach – a
top favorite among celebrities and because of the performance, luxury, and status it brings along.
He bought the car just recently and can get to the games in more swagger.
Fashion Mogul As a reflection
of his “bet on yourself” motto and his consistent style game, Fred launched
his accessories and apparel shop called FVV. His shop sells bottoms, accessories, apparel,
hoodies and crewnecks, and outer wear. The styles are cool, causal and you can look it
up at fvvshop.com. Looking Clean!
Charity Fred has partnered with Penny
Appeal Canada because he believes in what they’re about. VanVleet said “The work they do aligns with
the reasons I give back. I want to give back not just as a band-aid fix, but to lift them out of
their tough situations which we don’t know about.” Penny Appeal Canada had already distributed
3,000 backpacks across Canada and increased their total by another 1,000 after connecting with Fred.
He fulfilled his promise to his community by giving out 300 backpacks that were customized
by Toronto artist Casey Bannerman, featuring VanVleet’s face and his
motto “Bet On Yourself”— a reminder to kids to have faith in their own capabilities.
Love Life Fred VanVleet and Shontai Neal have
two kids and have been together for so long that you would think they were married a long time ago.
The two met back in high school when Fred was a standout hooper while Shontai was a standout
student. They have a daughter was born in 2018 and a year later, his son was born in 2019.
Back in early 2022, VanVleet and Shontai Neal finally decided to commit by announcing their
engagement early in February. Shontai wrote In an Instagram
post to share the happy news: “I said YES! I am literally the
happiest girl in the world right now. It feels so surreal to finally be marrying
my best friend and soulmate of 12 years.” Even Drake gave a shoutout “My Twin on a
roll this week, Congrats Family” No info on the wedding date,
but this couple is just getting started. Real quick we want to give a shoutout to
Richard Gentry. Thanks for supporting us Big Time Hoops Style. If you engage in the comments
or community posts you will be eligible for shoutout. Then the Basketball Gods will Bless you.
Net Worth 4 years of college…Undrafted…To
Finals hero and NBA champion…What a ride it’s been so far for him. He embraced the “bet on yourself”
mentality and make a heck of a career out of it. With everything going on in his life,
Fred VanVleet has a Net Worth of $20 million. There’s plenty more where that came from.