Balanced attack leads Raptors to OT win over Bulls

TORONTO — Upon hearing the news, his Toronto Raptors teammates swarmed him pre-game in a mob of unbridled joy.

His former teammate DeMar DeRozan, made a point to find him during warm-ups to offer his own congratulations.

And even superstar rapper Drake, and his son Adonis, took the time to wish him well.

Fred VanVleet was an all-star.

He was named a reserve to the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, becoming the eighth different player in Raptors franchise history to be selected to the midseason showcase, and just the fourth undrafted player in the modern NBA era to be named an all-star.

"I think he really truly deserved it not only for what he's done this year, I know that's what the award is specifically for, but for historically what he's done on top of that," said Raptors coach Nick Nurse of VanVleet's all-star selection. "I think it's an awesome achievement. I mean, it's an incredible, incredible story that just keeps getting better."

VanVleet was more reflective on his journey and how it led to the moment.

"Just training camp as an undrafted rookie," he said. "Just literally being on my knees praying before I went to bed to make the team. Like every night. Just pouring out everything I got during practice and workouts and things like that and just praying that somebody was seeing it.

"It’s not really about praying that I’ve done my job, it’s more so for the recognition because I’ve always believed in myself but I’ve never had someone else believe in me like this."

While VanVleet was getting his well-deserved due before the game, it was the collective effort of all the Raptors' key players that led Toronto to victory against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.

VanVleet was one of four Raptors who scored at least 21 points as Toronto