In 2019, the Toronto Raptors made an improbable run to the NBA Finals, winning it all in six games over the two-time defending champions, the Golden State Warriors. Today, the Raptors look nothing like that squad, with Fred VanVleet and Norman Powell having since moved on to different teams.
VanVleet and Powell both shared that championship together as teammates and have maintained a connection ever since. Powell, who has moved on a few times over since leaving Toronto, is now lighting it up with the Miami Heat in his first season there.
This season has been one of Powell's absolute best in his NBA career, and his contributions as a role player are finally getting recognized in a spotlight fashion — an achievement that could have happened last year, but will certainly happen this year, as the 11-year veteran just made his first NBA All-Star game.
Norman Powell gets a shoutout from former teammate Fred VanVleet over his first-ever NBA All-Star selection
Powell and VanVleet's shared Raptors tenure spanned five seasons together, culminating in a championship thanks to Kawhi Leonard's heroics in the playoffs. After they raised the Larry O'Brien for the first time in Canada, Powell would eventually move on from Toronto two years later to join the Portland Trail Blazers.
VanVleet would remain with the Raptors for a couple more seasons, but he, too, eventually moved on to the Houston Rockets. Despite being on different teams since winning the championship together, both players have remained friends, and with Powell's recent selection to this year's NBA All-Star game, his old teammate gave him a vote of confidence on social media, showing his excitement for Powell.
“Norm! Well-deserved,@Jigga2cal. One of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen,” VanVleet wrote on X.
Powell has been a solid role player throughout his career in the league, and no matter where he's played, he's always been exactly how VanVleet describes him: one of the hardest workers out there. So, an All-Star nod just goes to show that Powell's imprint on the Heat this season rises above many of the players in the league who could have been selected over him.
Even with the Los Angeles Clippers last season, Powell was instrumental in keeping the Clippers afloat in the Western Conference. Leonard was missing in action for the majority of the season, and Powell, alongside James Harden, kept the team above water. It was Powell's production, though, that many believed should have garnered him an All-Star nod last year. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
Well, if what Powell was doing last year at least had him in the conversation, it should be no surprise that he's officially made it this year, given that his production is actually higher than last year's, and the Heat are in the mix in the East thanks to Powell.
Unfortunately for VanVleet, he's at home nursing a torn ACL and is quite possibly about to miss the entire season. Still, you know you have friends in the league when someone shouts you out from afar after a major accomplishment. It's even better when that shout-out comes from someone you went all the way with several years ago.
VanVleet's excitement for Powell is nice to see, and Powell deserves every bit of the All-Star experience he will soon embark on.