Fred VanVleet Shares Thoughts on Rockets' Social Media Blot

This won't be a talking point much longer.

Apr 18, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Houston Rockets guard Fred Vanvleet (5) watches from the bench against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second half during game one of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

This year's Houston Rockets went through a myriad of triumph and tragedy, covering a multitude of scandals and storylines. In fact, the Rockets dealt with heartbreak before the season even started, when floor general and team captain Fred VanVleet suffered a season-ending injury before the season even officially started.

Better yet, before the team even had an opportunity to practice together with their new starting five. VanVleet's fateful torn ACL changed the entire trajectory of the Rockets' championship hopes and the Rockets' brainpower elected against bringing in an external body at the point guard spot to replace VanVleet, which was yet another storyline that surrounded the organization. 

And followed the franchise all throughout the season, as prognosticators linked player after player to the Rockets, as a trade destination (or buyout destination). Perhaps the biggest "scandal" if you even want to call it that was the social media situation surrounding Kevin Durant, in which he found himself engulfed in yet another Twitter firestorm, involving the alleged use of non-verified Twitter accounts (or burner accounts).

This time, it was alleged. Durant's previous situations were confirmed by himself, coming directly from the horse's mouth. Images surfaced of a group chat thread in which a Twitter user, believed to be one of Durant's burner accounts, posting disparaging comments about Rockets players Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun.

Durant addressed the situation to the local media, issuing neither a denial nor confirmation regarding whether he was the mastermind behind the account. Which, to many, is an admission of guilt.

Rockets center Steven Adams addressed the situation, acknowledging the importance of being aware of who the group chats are compromised of. VanVleet took to his signature Unguarded podcast to share his own thoughts and opinions on the burner situation. 

"You know the lies is always more appealing than the truth anyway," VanVleet said. "You know what I’m saying? That s— is about entertainment at the end of the day ... We had some weird things this year. And this is one thing that I didn’t deal with with Kawhi [Leonard]. Because KD is the other superstar that I played with, which was Kawhi. But the media didn’t bother Kawhi. And I think it’s because his personality, right?

"And I think that the gift and the curse with KD is that he’s so open. He’s so authentic and he’s so approachable and he’s so him that it leaves room for the f— clowns to jump in and add they own twist on the s— and then if he don’t come out and directly say no or go against that, which is what they want. There's just so much room for like clickbait farming and s— like that when it comes to him.”

The good thing for both Durant and the Rockets is that the situation is over and done with. By the start of the season, it won't be a talking point anymore.