Toronto Raptors guard and leader Fred VanVleet is heading to the NBA All-Star Game for the first time in his career.
VanVleet was announced Thursday as one of the reserves for the Eastern Conference. The reserves are chosen by a coaches’ vote after fan votes plus a panel of experts and media helped pick five starters for each conference.
The 27-year-old VanVleet has emerged from the shadow of Kyle Lowry to become a force in all aspects for the Raptors. Through 44 games this season, he is averaging career-highs in points (21.5), assists (seven) and rebounds (4.7) while shooting 39 per cent from three. And he’s doing it while leading the league in time on court, averaging 38.6 minutes per game.
VanVleet is just the fourth undrafted player to make an all-star team, joining John Starks (1994), Ben Wallace (2003-06) and Brad Miller (2003-04).
His Raptors teammate, Pascal Siakam, was not named to the roster Thursday.
The NBA All-Star Game weekend is set for Feb. 18-20 in Cleveland. Below are the full rosters announced so far:
Eastern Conference
Starters
Kevin Durant
Giannis Antetokounmpo
DeMar DeRozan
Joel Embiid
Trae Young
Reserves
Jimmy Butler
Darius Garland
James Harden
Zach LaVine
Khris Middleton
Jayson Tatum
Fred VanVleet
Western Conference
Starters
LeBron James
Stephen Curry
Nikola Jokic
Ja Morant
Andrew Wiggins
Reserves
Devin Booker
Luka Doncic
Rudy Gobert
Draymond Green (injured, won’t play)
Donovan Mitchell
Chris Paul
Karl-Anthony Towns
