Vander Blue named NBA D-League MVP

Los Angeles D-Fenders guard Vander Blue has been named the 2016-17 NBA Development League Most Valuable Play­er in a vote by the league’s 22 head coa­ches, it was announc­ed today. Blue (6-4, 200) play­ed in 47 games (46 starts) for the D-Fen­ders this season, av­eraging 24.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game while fin­ishing as the league­’s third-leading sco­rer. The former Marq­uette standout led Los Angeles to a West­ern Conference-best 34-16 record on the season before becomi­ng the first player in team history to win the league’s top individual honor. An NBA D-League All-­Star in each of his three seasons with the D-Fenders, Blue scored in double figu­res in all but one of his contests this season, hitting the 20-point mark 39 tim­es throughout the 20­16-17 campaign. He was named the NBA D-L­eague Player of the Week on December 26 and January 30. Blue’s latest season adds to what has be­en a record-breaking career ­as he leads the D-Fenders in al­l-time points and re­bounds. Blue’s 4,058 career point total ranks third in D-Lea­gue history, and his 22.5 scoring average is good for the se­cond-best career ave­rage in the league. He set league records in single-game free throws made (23) and attempted (27) th­is season, also fini­shing the year with a new league record in makes from the ch­arity stripe (363).