{"id":806578,"date":"2026-07-17T18:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/806578\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T18:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:02:11","slug":"houston-rockets-guard-fred-vanvleet-feels-like-a-rookie-again-in-return-from-knee-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/806578\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet ‘feels like a rookie again’ in return from knee injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

LAS VEGAS \u2013 The Houston Rockets have the 15th-best odds to win the 2027 NBA championship, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers. While those odds are long, veteran Rockets guard Fred VanVleet believes his team can defy them next season when he returns to action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can win a championship next year,\u201d the NBA Players Association president told Andscape on July 10 from the Las Vegas hotel where he was conducting business. \u201cBut that\u2019s internal.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were championship aspirations for the Rockets a year ago after acquiring 16-time NBA All-Star forward Kevin Durant. On paper, the combination of Durant, VanVleet, two-time All-Star center Alperen Sengun and defensive specialist forward Amen Thompson gave the Rockets one of the league\u2019s most feared rosters. <\/p>\n

However, those title dreams shifted when VanVleet tore his right ACL and meniscus during an unofficial team workout in the Bahamas in September 2025.<\/p>\n

VanVleet later revealed on his podcast that the damage to his right knee required surgery. The 2022 NBA All-Star has dealt with injuries throughout his career, but nothing as significant as his injury last season. It sidelined him for all 82 regular-season games and the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know it was that bad [initially],\u201d VanVleet said. \u201cI never had a real injury before. But I definitely felt the pain and the severity of the moment. The rest of the room kind of knew before I did. I was in denial. I didn\u2019t want to believe it. I\u2019ve got a high pain tolerance, so I didn\u2019t think it was that bad until I got my MRI. When I got the news, it was crazy. Looking back now, it was one of those real life-changing moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat helped me [mentally] was my family, being surrounded by love, family and my kids. And just being patient. We all have these ideas of who we are. Then you get put in a situation where you actually have to be that. So, I pride myself on mental toughness, patience, working hard and determination. But that was tested in a situation like this. I\u2019ve been tested for the last nine or 10 months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without VanVleet, Houston had a 17-9 record to start the season. However, VanVleet said the Rockets started \u201cgoing downhill\u201d after center Steven Adams was lost for the season with a Grade 3 left ankle sprain on Jan. 28. The Rockets finished with a 52-30 record and the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoffs.<\/p>\n

Hopes of VanVleet returning for the playoffs for a team in desperate need of a point guard never materialized. The Rockets lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 in the first round of the playoffs. A helpless VanVleet said he put his \u201cassistant coach hat on\u201d but was frustrated watching his Rockets get eliminated from the postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe playoffs was pretty hard,\u201d VanVleet said. \u201cI was about six months into that [rehab] time. I remember they told me I could come back in six months. I was feeling good some days. And then Game 1 or Game 2 [of the playoffs] and I was like, \u2018Damn, I\u2019m going to miss the whole [season]. I\u2019m not coming back.\u2019 That was a tough time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FVVFred VanVleet (left) and Kevin Durant (right) didn\u2019t get to play together in 2025-26 for the Rockets after VanVleet\u2019s knee injury in preseason.<\/p>\n

Adam Pantozzi\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

VanVleet exercised his $25 million player option for next season, which is also the final year of his two-year contract. The Rockets also signed veteran guards Marcus Smart and Bojan Bogdanovic for insurance and depth. Those three guards will allow Thompson and sharpshooter Reed Sheppard to play off the ball more.<\/p>\n

VanVleet has been working out daily and is close to being on \u201cthe court full time, ramping up, feeling good.\u201d He also told Andscape he is confident he will be ready to play in the Rockets\u2019 first preseason game next season, and he \u201cfeels like a rookie again.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Rockets will play preseason games against the Dallas Mavericks in Macao, China, on Oct. 9 and 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be very disappointed if I\u2019m not playing in the preseason,\u201d VanVleet said. \u201cWhat I missed the most was the outlet, the exertion, the escape of whatever our lives are in our worlds. I took for granted a lot of things of what I do because I just have been doing it every day for my whole life.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the mental escape and the physical exertion of getting that energy out and wanting to bump people and cuss at referees, to have the highs and the lows and the failure and the success, I really just love every aspect of the game. So, to have that taken away from me was very humbling and eye-opening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Houston<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tHouston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet works to elevate youths in his hometown \u2013 Andscape\t\t\t\tRead now
\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

VanVleet said he is using his 2019 NBA championship with the Raptors and the New York Knicks\u2019 2026 NBA championship as motivation for his Rockets next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of got pushed out [last season],\u201d Van Vleet said. \u201cWe went from a fun AAU team to adding Kevin to a little favorite. The only bad thing about being a favorite is you get all of the flack \u2014 all of the criticism first. So, my experience is winning a championship in Toronto when nobody cared. Nobody paid us any attention. And they disrespected us the whole [season], and then we won. And that erased everything that happened previously.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lead up to the moment doesn\u2019t matter. We just watched the [New York] Knicks do it. Nobody thought they would win. Then they got there, dominated, and they were the best team ever. It\u2019s just how the outside narrative works. But we got a lot of work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

VanVleet was elected to a four-year term as president of the NBPA in 2025. NBPA executive director David Kelly said in a news conference last Friday that the NBA\u2019s \u201csecond apron\u201d penalties and restrictions on the league\u2019s highest-spending teams must be \u201csoftened\u201d or removed because they \u201cdecimate teams.\u201d <\/p>\n

The second apron played a role in the Boston Celtics trading 2024 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Jaylen Brown and the Knicks losing center Mitchell Robinson in free agency.<\/p>\n

Kelly and VanVleet believe that a \u201cconsensus\u201d against the second apron rules is growing in popularity among players, fans, agents and team executives. VanVleet also told Andscape about concerns among NBA fans being priced out of attending games.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a president is something I\u2019m very proud of,\u201d VanVleet said. \u201cIt\u2019s a service job first and foremost. Just protecting and serving the players. It\u2019s something I take a lot of pride in, stepping into that role. And as we kind of embark on a new style of NBA player now, the landscape has changed so much in the last 10 years that I\u2019ve been a pro.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the future is very bright. We\u2019re getting a more conscious athlete. The brotherhood is growing stronger and coming together. And we got some very exciting things on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Undrafted out of Wichita State in 2016, VanVleet signed with the Raptors. He spent much of his rookie season with Toronto playing in the G League for Raptors 905. <\/p>\n

But VanVleet developed into a key member of the Raptors\u2019 2019 NBA championship team, a starting point guard and an All-Star in 2022. He was rewarded with a two-year, $50 million deal by the Rockets in 2025.<\/p>\n

When asked what could be learned from his journey, VanVleet said: \u201cTo not let other people\u2019s expectations dictate your life good or bad. If they expect all good from you, you still have to be yourself. If they expect nothing from you, you still have to be yourself. My life and my career has been one of somebody who has had to make his own way. <\/p>\n

\u201cGood, bad or ugly, I\u2019ve failed, I\u2019ve succeeded. I\u2019ve done everything I\u2019ve wanted to do already in a short amount of time. I never want to let anybody tell me what I can or can\u2019t do. I know what I am capable of. I put the work in. I keep my face card clean and move with respect, honor and love. And I\u2019ve made myself a nice little living by doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2013 The Houston Rockets have the 15th-best odds to win the 2027 NBA championship, according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":806579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-806578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}