HOUSTON — Distance from devastation granted Fred VanVleet not just a surgically repaired knee but new clarity. One year removed from tearing his ACL and on the eve of the NBA season, the Houston Rockets point guard appreciates the everyday tasks he once considered minute and mundane. Hell, he joked, he even enjoys media day now.
“I have a whole newfound perspective on this thing that we do here that we call a job and also just life in general,” VanVleet said this month. “I’m just really grateful and excited to be able to get back out there on the court.”
The Rockets bring back their seven main rotation players from last season – including the team’s three top scorers in Kevin Durant, Alperen Şengün and Amen Thompson – plus offseason signings Marcus
Smart and Bogdan Bogdanovic. But Houston’s most important additions might actually be the re-addition of VanVleet and backup center Steven Adams.
VanVleet tore his right ACL and meniscus last September in a preseason workout and missed the entire 2025-26 season. Adams underwent season-ending surgery on his left ankle in January after he suffered a Grade 3 sprain while contesting a shot in a game.
Following months of recovery and rehabilitation, VanVleet and Adams are primed to return to the court when the Rockets tip off the 2026-27 NBA season in October.
Rockets head athletic trainer Jason Biles told USA TODAY Sports that both players approached the rehab process the same way they approach playing a game.
“Aggressive, steady, consistent. They’re competitive guys. and it really showed in the process,” Biles said. “They want to be back out here. Some guys may have taken even longer time, but they worked really hard to put themselves in this position, and they’re also team guys. They don’t want to let the team down. They want to be a part of it and fulfill their responsibilities.”
How Rockets kept their injured stars 'integrated and connected'
Whenever a player is facing long-term injury rehabilitation, Biles and the Rockets’ team doctors sit down with the player’s personal team and map out a plan. They progress from pain management to restoring mobility and stability, followed by adding strength and, finally, back to basketball.
Early on after his injury, VanVleet rehabbed at the Rockets’ training facility almost every day. During the NBA season, Adams rehabbed with team staff in Houston and with his personal physical therapist in Washington, D.C.
Injured players can feel isolated and unempowered. Biles said the Rockets worked to make sure that Adams and VanVleet, two of Houston’s vital locker room leaders, were around the rest of the team as much as possible during their recoveries.
“I always want them to be integrated and connected,” Biles said. “There are some instances where a guy is going to need some time one-on-one with me that may be separate from the team, but as a general rule, we’re all in this together, and we love for everybody to be around. It offers, especially with those two guys, great teaching points for young guys, and it’s good for them, too. It keeps them feeling like they’re a part of something.”
VanVleet’s case was unique because it was his first long-term injury recovery, and a grueling one. Biles said that ACL rehabilitation has shifted from time-based to performance-based, meaning there’s no concrete timeline for a return. In basketball specifically, it’s important that the injured knee regains as much strength as possible so that both sides of the body are symmetrical.
“The hardest challenge, probably, in ACL rehab is the time that it takes,” Biles said. “It’s just a grind, mentally, because you can imagine having to bring it for 12 months, you expend a lot of mental energy doing that.”
Biles got creative with ways to keep VanVleet engaged in his rehab. He played energizing music during sessions, alternated between indoor and outdoor settings and asked coaches to come up with interesting shooting games. Sometimes, they tried to make shots with a football – whatever kept the vibe fun and light.
Adams’ physical recovery was complicated because problems with the ankle can affect the knees, hips and lower back. But Adams said the key to his process was a mental adjustment.
“You have to kind of redefine what a win looks like,” Adams said. “Usually, when you play basketball, you’re kind of like, ‘Did I do my job well? Did I guard this person correctly? Did I do this many pick-and-roll coverages?’ Blah blah. But for rehab, it’s like, ‘Oh, did I achieve more dorsiflexion today? Was I able to do this many reps of toe movements?’ You know, real boring stuff. But you have to kind of just use those as wins because it’s pretty easy to slip off and feel sorry about yourself.”
He first learned that lesson a few years ago. Adams missed the entire 2023-24 season while attempting to rehabilitate his right posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), which eventually required surgery. All told, he went 21 months without playing an NBA game before making his Rockets debut in October 2024.
Adams said his previous knee injury helped him feel better equipped to tackle the recovery process for his ankle and to be a source of comfort for VanVleet, in his own way.
“My love language is sending like really inappropriate reels or memes,” Adams said. “So I sent him some real rough stuff, but it’s all love.”
Rockets returnees propel expectations
After Houston was eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers from the first round of the 2026 playoffs with VanVleet, Adams and an injured Durant watching from the sidelines, the Rockets are hoping that getting their key players back will make the team whole again.
Their absences last season provided what Rockets general manager Rafael Stone described as a silver lining, forcing young players like Thompson, Şengün, Reed Sheppard and Jabari Smith Jr. to develop new skills and shoulder increased responsibilities. Their returns will allow every player to slide back to his natural position.
“This team was constructed to have me and Steven on the floor, not on the bench, and not in street clothes,” VanVleet said.
VanVleet is a vocal leader and on-ball operator who greases the wheels of the Rockets’ offense. Adams’ screening and offensive rebounding are central to Houston’s physical, glass-gobbling identity – which coach Ime Udoka said the team intends to “quadruple down” on this season.
“When you get Fred and Steven back, two of our more experienced, high-IQ guys, vocal guys, the communication and everything goes up on both ends of the floor,” Udoka said. “We’re all excited. Seeing everybody in the gym playing five-on-five and you can kind of see the new pieces, as well as guys coming back. Steven and Fred looking good out there gives us a lot of optimism.”
The final hurdle of the rehab process is a battery of return-to-play tests. Biles said the tests look different for each player but generally measure balance, range of motion and how well they can jump, land and cut.
VanVleet has been fully cleared, while Adams had not yet taken his final return-to-play tests as of Sept. 25, according to Biles.
Udoka said the Rockets will probably not allow Adams or VanVleet to play in back-to-back games to start the season, adding that minute restrictions for both players will be determined by how they progress through training camp.
“I’m sure what you guys see won’t be the finished product, but I’m in a really good spot,” VanVleet said. “Being able to play some five-on-five over the last couple weeks, build some strength and some conditioning and things like that. But yeah, considering 12 months ago I wasn’t able to walk at this point in the year, I’d say I’m doing pretty good right now.”
Adams added, “Pretty confident in the position right now, but still got to just take your time with it because there’s one thing getting back from the injury, but then getting to an NBA level, it’s a different ask.”
Biles said he preaches patience to athletes who are returning from a long layoff.
“Give yourself some grace,” he said. “I’ll let them know to be patient but also encourage them to get them to have confidence in the work they’ve already put in, and to trust that process. You keep stacking days and it’s really all about habit formation and bringing it every day. And then next thing you know, the end is in sight and then you’re back to who you want to be on the court.”
VanVleet and Adams return with great expectations placed upon them, but VanVleet doesn’t feel pressure to suddenly fix all the Rockets’ problems.
“I like pressure, so I’m not running from that. It’s not that simple, quite frankly,” he said. “But I think that we will look like a different group and my identity is not tied to the result, but I’m confident that it’ll look better.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: VanVleet, Adams conquered injury rehab, now they're ready to ignite Rockets
