<\/p>\n
Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, left, and guard Fred Vanvleet watch during Houston Rockets practice at UCLA before heading out to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers for Game 5 on Wednesday, April 29, 2026.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Houston Rockets guard Fred Vanvleet (5) sits on the bench before the Rockets take on the LA Clippers at the Toyota Center in Houston on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Fred VanVleet usually doesn\u2019t reveal too much outside of basketball X\u2019s and O\u2019s when he\u2019s speaking into a microphone or a reporter\u2019s recorder, even when he\u2019s talked about the physical and emotional pain of missing all of last season with a torn ACL<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, the Houston Rockets point guard opened up more about the situation when he chatted with former Rockets guard Patrick Beverley on the latest episode of VanVleet\u2019s \u201cUnguarded\u201d podcast<\/a>, which dropped Friday.<\/p>\n VanVleet tore his ACL and meniscus when he was working out with teammates on a team retreat in the Bahamas about a week before the start of training camp. When VanVleet\u00a0faced the media a month later<\/a> to talk about the injury and surgery, he seemed to have accepted his fate with a determination to return better than ever. However, on his podcast, VanVleet revealed he actually spent days in complete denial of the injury altogether.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The 32-year-old said when he injured the knee he was having a great scrimmage\u00a0showing the young guys that they might have blockbuster trade acquisition Kevin\u00a0Durant<\/a> to lean on now, but \u201cwe\u2019re gonna need him in April, May and June. Y\u2019all still go me. So, I\u2019m going crazy (on the court),\u201d VanVleet said of his workout that day.<\/p>\n Then, VanVleet drove the lane and felt his knee give out, which he described as \u201ca shotgun blow.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the entire gym went quiet with the music even being turned off before he got up and tried to walk it off, limping around the court.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m walking around like, ‘Damn, I f\u2014\u00a0my s\u2014\u00a0up,’\u201d VanVleet recalls. \u201cBut it\u2019s September, so I\u2019m already going like, ‘Alright, bet, maybe two, three weeks, I\u2019ll probably miss the first preseason game and I\u2019ll be cool.’\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n VanVleet said he went to his room to take a nap and when he woke up, his knee had swollen \u201cas big as a basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n When the swelling went down after a couple days, VanVleet was able to get an MRI, and when those results delivered bad news, he still was convinced someone had messed up and the doctors were looking at the wrong MRI scans.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, ‘No, that ain\u2019t mine. No. I didn\u2019t (tear my ACL).’ They\u2019re like, ‘You did, bruh. You tore your ACL,’\u201d VanVleet said. \u201cI said no, so I\u2019m arguing. I did that for like three days.\u201d<\/p>\n VanVleet said he had so thoroughly convinced himself that he didn\u2019t actually tear his ACL that when he was supposed to meet the doctor at the gym the next morning, he actually showed up at 2 a.m. to run and shoot and ended up spending the night at the facility before his\u00a0doctor\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m f\u2014\u00a0up, crying and s\u2014,\u201d VanVleet said. \u201cI slept at the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Even when the doctors assured\u00a0VanVleet that the images were accurate and they had been sent around to other experts for confirmation,\u00a0VanVleet said he told them, \u201cWhat I feel right now, I feel like I could play in 10 days, I\u2019m telling you. I\u2019ve played through s\u2014\u00a0like this. They\u2019re like, ‘Nah. You need to get surgery.’\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout the season there was some speculation\u00a0\u2014 and perhaps sheerly overly optimistic hope<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 that VanVleet could return by the end of the regular season and contribute in the playoffs. That never happened but VanVleet said he was thinking that way, too, and it helped him with his recovery.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole season, I\u2019m like, ‘I\u2019m coming back,’ but man, I wasn\u2019t anywhere\u00a0near coming back,\u201d VanVleet said. \u201cBut I needed that to get through this s\u2014.\u201d<\/p>\n