The 1 time NBA star Fred VanVleet was scared on a basketball court and why he made a movie
WINNEBAGO — NBA champion. NBA All-Star. Finalist for Sixth Man of the Year. One spot away from being named Second Team All-Defense.
Fred VanVleet continues to do things no one else from Rockford has ever done. And here are two more: A documentary on VanVleet was released this winter, and he was also named one of the five finalists for the NBA’s second annual Social Justice Champion award, which comes with a trophy named after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“The social justice nomination was a huge honor, something I wasn’t expecting,” VanVleet said Thursday at his Joe Buckets Training facility in Winnebago during a news conference for his Fred VanVleet Fest and youth camp Thursday through Sunday.
“It wasn’t on my radar. That made it even sweeter for me. I wasn’t trying to win an award with the work I am doing. I am just doing it because I think I should be. I am trying to set the tone and be a foundation within the community. To be mentioned with kareem Abdul-Jabbar, that’s pretty special. That’s probably the coolest award that I’ve been in contact with. That was amazing.”
VanVleet's camp kicks off with a bowling night at Cherry Bowl on Thursday before moving to Auburn High School for the FVV Fanfest on Friday that will include giveaways and 3-point and dunk contests before concluding with a youth camp for boys and girls from K-12 at Auburn on Saturday and Sunday. His camp was not held the previous two years because of COVID reasons, but it continues for the same reasons he made a documentary and was one of the top five NBA players honored for their social justice efforts.
“This camp is just something I feel I should be doing,” he said. “I don’t worry how people perceive it, but people think it’s a big deal so that’s cool.”
VanVleet’s charity activities in Rockford include annual turkey giveaways for Thanksgiving and handing out back-to-school supplies. He also has give-backs in Wichita, where he starred in college, and his NBA home of Toronto. He passed out more than 1,000 backpacks to underprivileged kids in Toronto last year ago. He also started the Fred VanVleet Scholarship Fund to provide full academic scholarships to Black or indigenous students who pursue a college degree in Canada.
“I don’t focus on one thing,” VanVleet said. “I let that be who I am every day. … I don’t overstress myself, but I do what I can.”
More: Tracking Fred VanVleet's journey to NBA stardom
VanVleet is the only Rockford native or resident to ever be named an All-Star in the NBA, NFL, MLB or NHL. The only others who even came close were East grad Skip Thoren, who in 1969 was an All-Star in the ABA, the NBA’s short-lived rival, and East grad Ira Matthews, who was honored as a kick returner as a rookie in 1979 by Pro Football Weekly and The Sporting News.
Here are VanVleet’s thoughts on his various accomplishments since graduating from Rockford Auburn High School and Wichita State:
Q: What did you think of your documentary, “Par-lay: Bet on Yourself,” which aired the week of the NBA All-Star Game on Canadian outlets Crave and TSN.
A: “It turned out good. There were some hiccups, trying to iron out the business side of it. We usually do everything ourselves and have full control of it. It was our first time handing over control to the other side. We definitely learned some things but I was pleased with how the film turned out.”
Q: You say you always expected to be an NBA player, NBA champion and even NBA All-Star. But did you expect to have a movie made about you?
A: “I did, yeah. A lot of this stuff that I’m doing I have had ideas about since I was a little boy. Sometimes they turn out good, sometimes they don’t, but I’m not afraid to try things and fail and learn from them.
“More than anything, I just try to be an inspiration to somebody. People might not like it or it might not do anything for them, but as long as one person watches it and finds some inspiration or hope, then I’ve done my job. I have been through a lot and done a lot and plan on doing more, so for me being able to share that is more important than anything, to pass it down to the next generation.”
Q: How do you manage to keep improving as a pro while running charity events in three different cities hundreds of miles apart?
A: “I am a little crazy. I just try to make an impact everywhere I go and create value. Every person that I encounter, I try and make them better and also better myself. That’s the way we should do it; we all just keep raising each other’s levels. I feel an obligation to tap into every community I am in.”
Q: What is it like to be loved as much in Wichita and Toronto as in your home town?
A: “I don’t really focus on that part too much. The interpersonal relationships are more important to me. The fanfare comes with it. I appreciate people who appreciate me and follow my story, but I am more concerned with the work and keep getting stuff done.”
Q: What did it mean to you to make the All-Star team?
A: “I was knocking on the door. The year before, I felt I could have been one, so to be chosen by the coaches as an All-Star reserve, that was a special nod of appreciation. I can look back and say I did that. This is a little kid from Auburn High School who went on to become an NBA All-Star. That’s a pretty cool story.”
Q: What does it mean to you to have received two first-team votes and 41 second-team votes for the NBA All-Defensive Team?
A: “That’s just the will and the heart. I think (Auburn coach Bryan Ott) would be pretty proud of that. That was supposed to be my weakness coming in. I wasn’t supposed to be able to guard anybody because I was too small and I wasn’t athletic enough and now I am viewed as one of the better defenders in the league at the guard spot, which is one of the hardest spots to guard in the NBA, especially the way it’s played now with the rules changes and you’ve got to guard a guy like Trey Young who might get 100 ball screens in one game and you’ve got to try to stop him. It’s a fun challenge every single night and something I take a lot of pride in. I just like to compete and go out there and earn the respect of my peers.
“I watch basketball all day every day. With the league pass, I am watching three, four games a night. I definitely watch the playoffs. At a certain point you find a rhythm and know guys I’ve got to guard. As I get farther away from the young guys, I’ve got to dig into college basketball and watch these young guys who are coming out. You can get surprised sometimes if you are not familiar with these younger kids.”
Q: Are you looking to redeem yourself after finishing seventh out of eight contestants in the 3-point contest over All-Star weekend?
A: “No, I am never doing that again. I didn’t want to do it. I was convinced, which is very hard to do, if you ask anybody who knows me. I was persuaded to do it against my better judgment. That was a regrettable decision. But it was fun. I went out there and I tried, but that’s not for me.
“It’s a different thing. I was way too nervous. And I never get nervous. That’s the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life. I have never been nervous like that before. I can admit I was nervous as hell. … My body just shrunk on me.”
Q: What exactly is this Joe Buckets Training facility, with two basketball gyms on the northern edge of Winnebago?
A: “I found this gym that a guy built for baseball for his kids. It had turf on it originally. We talked about him selling it and I ended up buying it and renovating it.
“This is my private facility that I use for training. The other 22 hours that I am not here, it’s for training for kids. My brother J.D. (Danforth), he has his training business out of here. He works with kids all day, training. And my family comes here. … Having access to these facilities was a no-brainer for me. It’s an investment I made for my career.
“The only thing I might get some flack for is it is out here in Winnebago. I am a west-side Rockford kid. But it fell into my lap. I had to take the opportunity. We definitely have some programs coming here. If I wasn’t scared of having 300 kids, I would have had the camp here. We will find some ways to do some smaller events here.”
Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at mtrowbridge@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @MattTrowbridge. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Matt has covered sports for the Register Star for more than 30 years after previously working for papers in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City. He grew up on a farm in northwest Minnesota with six brothers and a sister. His four daughters all graduated from Rockford Public Schools.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Fred VanVleet talks about his NBA awards and social justice work
