According to multiple reports, Rockford’s own Fred VanVleet, currently the Houston Rockets point guard and floor general, tore his ACL during a team workout in the Bahamas on Monday, Sept. 22, and will undergo surgery later this week. He could miss the entire 2025-2026 season because of the injury.
VanVleet, 31, is coming off one of his best playoff performances when he led the Rockets back from a 3-games-to-1 deficit to force a Game 7 against Golden State in the first round last year. But now his future is in question.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on X, formerly Twitter, that VanVleet tore his ACL and that it’s a “potentially season-ending loss for the Rockets.”
VanVleet climbed the ladder
The Rockford Auburn High School grad went to the NCAA Final Four as a freshman at Wichita State, then led the Shockers to an undefeated regular season as a sophomore. He won an NBA title with the Toronto Raptors in 2019 and was an All-Star in 2020.
Then he added another chapter to his legacy last year, even though, this time, his team lost in the first round. He was the key reason why Houston battled back from that 3-to-1 deficit to force the Game 7, which they eventually lost. VanVleet made 18 of 27 shots from 3-point distance in games 4 through 6.
Then he got paid
After Houston declined VanVleet’s $44.9 million team option, the Rockets quickly restructured a new deal, and he agreed to the two-year, $50 million contract that included a player option for the 2026–27 season over the summer.
That new contract pushed VanVleet’s four-year earnings with Houston to $133.7 million. Since leaving the Raptors two years ago, VanVleet has made more money than he would have in Toronto while also helping turn things around aggressively in Houston.
And it paid off
The Rockets went from 22 wins in 2022–23 to 41 the next year, VanVleet’s first season. They then soared to 52 wins last year, snapping a four-year playoff drought by earning the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
This year, Houston is returning most of its squad, plus adding perennial All Star Kevin Durant, the former MVP that they traded for last summer.
But now what?
The VanVleet knee injury could derail the Rockets’ plans. VanVleet’s now 31 years old, and will need a solid year to rehab, if this is the injury that is sounds like.
He still has something left in the tank, but he will need to reinvent himself in the rehab room for a long time to get it back.
“He’s a consummate professional,” Auburn coach Bryan Ott said about his former star. “He knows how to win and is a valuable commodity for any NBA team.”
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.