The former Toronto Raptors guard and current Houston Rockets player was reportedly elected the new president of the National Basketball Players Association, per ESPN’s Shams Charania on Saturday.
VanVleet will begin a four-year term as the next NBPA leader, succeeding Washington Wizards’ guard CJ McCollum. According to Charania, McCollum will now serve in an advisory position.
Before McCollum’s term, Chris Paul held the president role.
It’s the latest milestone in an already unheralded journey for VanVleet as he readies for his 10th NBA season after going undrafted to start his career. The one-time all-star spent the first seven years of his pro career with the Raptors — playing a pivotal role in the team’s 2019 title run — before signing with the Rockets (for three years at $128.5 million) ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.
And although Houston declined VanVleet’s $44.9 million club option heading into 2025-26, the team instead re-signed the lead guard to a two-year, $50 million contract (per Spotrac).
His multiple NBA deals have made him the highest-earning undrafted player in league history.
The 31-year-old averaged 14.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists as he helped the Rockets take a major leap up the standings to the No. 2 seed after being 11th the year before. He’ll now play hold a key role for a revamped Rockets team that traded for 15-time all-star Kevin Durant earlier in the off-season and made impact signings with Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela.
As president of the NBPA, VanVleet will serve as the primary representative for all players in the league, working with the union’s executive committee — which includes current Toronto Raptors veteran Garrett Temple, who has been a vice president since 2017 — to oversee matters like collective bargaining agreements and players’ rights.
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