Fred VanVleet is putting together the best season of his career.
Through 29 games, the Toronto Raptors guard is averaging career-highs of 20.4 points, 6.8 assists and 5.0 rebounds while leading the league in minutes (37.9). He's shooting a career-best 43.0 percent from the field to go along with 39.3 percent shooting from 3-point range on high volume.
VanVleet has once again been a disruptive defender as well. Only 13 players are currently averaging more steals and only two are averaging more deflections.
Whether or not VanVleet has done enough to be an All-Star remains to be seen, but as NBA.com's Kyle Irving recently detailed, he is building quite the case.
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Following Toronto's win over the LA Clippers on Friday, a game in which he scored 31 points and dished out nine assists, VanVleet was asked about what it's been like getting All-Star buzz.
"It means a lot," VanVleet responded. "I'm honoured that our fan base has been showing up and the digital campaign or whatever, with the fan votes, it means a lot to me that I am getting that attention and that respect from our fan base.
"Again, I don't really play for those type of things, but I feel like I've done my job up until this point. I've put together a heck of a season so far. I wish it was resulting in more wins, but all we've got to do is get hot here and we'll see what happens. I was pretty close last year and we'll see what happens this year.
🔥 FVV x OG x Spicy P 🔥
— NBA (@NBA) January 1, 2022
The @Raptors trio of @FredVanVleet, @OAnunoby and @pskills43 combine for 82 PTS in their victory! pic.twitter.com/iPM2HZ1L8g
"I'm going to continue to put the team first and put winning first and see where all those accolades and accomplishments fall at. But I don't think I need to tell you guys how I feel about myself.
"Again, I have great teammates, a great coaching staff, a great organization that believes in me, and the fan base has definitely been carrying that wave on the internet so far for sure."
MORE: VanVleet among potential first-time 2022 NBA All-Stars
VanVleet received a total of 431,769 fan votes last season, placing him 10th among Eastern Conference guards. (The top two guards in voting in each conference are named starters.) He wasn't among the seven All-Star reserves in the Eastern Conference, which are selected by the NBA's head coaches.
Voting for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game opened on Dec. 25 and concludes on Jan. 22. Click here for details on how to vote.
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