ROCKFORD, Ill.
What Fred VanVleet fights every time he tells his story, every time he goes to class, every time he plays basketball:
A city robbed of manufacturing jobs in the 1980s and economically damaged again in 2008. Crime. Racism. A city divided by the Rock River, east vs. west. A history of mediocre basketball at Auburn High, a history of Rockford athletes wasting their athletic gifts.
What Fred VanVleet accomplishes every time he tells his story, every time he goes to class, every time he plays basketball:
People believe somebody else can do it, too.