Steven Adams

Steven Adams
No. 12 – Oklahoma City Thunder
Position Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born 20 July 1993
Rotorua, New Zealand
Nationality New Zealand
Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight 255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
High school Rotorua Lakes
(Rotorua, New Zealand)
Scots College
(Wellington, New Zealand)
Notre Dame Prep
(Fitchburg, Massachusetts)
College Pittsburgh (2012–2013)
NBA draft 2013 / Round: 1 / Pick: 12th overall
Selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder
Pro career 2011–present
Career history
2011 Wellington Saints (New Zealand)
2013–present Oklahoma City Thunder
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Steven Funaki Adams (born 20 July 1993)[1] is a New Zealand professional basketball player who currently plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball for the Pittsburgh Panthers, he was labelled a top international prospect for the NBA.[2] Adams was selected by the Thunder with the 12th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft.

Early life

Adams' father, Sid, was an Englishman who settled in New Zealand after serving in the Royal Navy. Adams is the youngest of Sid's 18 children with five different women; his mother is Tongan. His siblings and half-siblings are notable for their exceptional size and athletic prowess; his brothers average 6'9" (2.06 m) and his sisters average 6'0" (1.83 m).[3]

One of Adams' sisters is double Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion shot-putter, Valerie Adams.[3] One of Adams' brothers is NZNBL player, Sid Adams, Jr.[4]

Adams has identified his father's death in 2006 as one of the defining events of his life. In a 2012 interview, Adams recalled:

When I lost my dad, that was a big hit for me. I didn't have that parental guidance, and I kind of took advantage of it because I was a stupid idiot. I decided not to go to school a couple of times, go when I felt like it. I always lied to my brothers and sisters. They'd ask: 'Are you going to school?' I'd say 'yeah.' They eventually found out.[3]

One of his brothers, Warren, stepped in to fill the gap, rescuing him from the streets of Rotorua and brought him to Wellington to live with him.[5] Warren placed him in a local basketball academy, and the head of the academy arranged for him to attend Scots College. Although some commentators in New Zealand believed Adams would not qualify to play for college basketball, he did well enough to qualify academically to play in the NCAA.[3]

High school career

Much like his sister, Adams was a gifted shot-putter in high school. He made it to the nationals before being beaten by Jacko Gill.[6] After graduating from Scots College in December 2011, Adams enrolled at Notre Dame Preparatory School, a well-known basketball prep school in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, for one semester.[3] He was rated as the number 6 player in the ESPNU 100 class of 2012.[7]

Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Steven Adams
C		 Rotorua, New Zealand Notre Dame Preparatory School 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (110 kg) May 7, 2010 
Scout:5/5 stars   Rivals:5/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 97

College career

Adams attended the University of Pittsburgh in 2012–13 where he made the Big East All-Rookie Team. During his freshman season, he averaged 7.2 points on 57.1% field goal shooting, 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 23.4 minutes per game. His field goal percentage ranked 1st, blocks 2nd and rebounds 6th amongst first year players in Pittsburgh's history.

On 2 April 2013, he declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final three years of college eligibility.[8][9]

Professional career

New Zealand

Adams playing in an intercity basketball game in Wellington, New Zealand

In February 2011, Adams signed with the Wellington Saints for the 2011 New Zealand NBL season.[10][11] Adams went on to win the Rookie of the Year award and helped Wellington win the NBL championship, defeating the Hawke's Bay Hawks 106–97 in the grand final.

NBA Draft

Adams was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder, becoming the first New Zealander to be selected in the first round of an NBA draft. He also became the first player out of Pittsburgh to be selected in the first round since 1999 when Vonteego Cummings was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 26th overall pick.[12]

Oklahoma City Thunder

Adams (right) and Kevin Séraphin of the Washington Wizards in 2014

On 12 July 2013, Adams signed his rookie scale contract with the Thunder.[13] That same day, he helped the Thunder become the first-ever champions of the Orlando Summer League with an 85–77 win over the Houston Rockets.[14] On 8 November 2013, he recorded his first double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds in a 119–110 win over the Detroit Pistons.[15] On 22 May 2014, he was named to the 2014 NBA All-Rookie second team.[16]

In July 2014, Adams re-joined the Thunder for the 2014 NBA Summer League.[17] On 22 October 2014, the Thunder exercised their third-year team option on Adams' rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2015–16 season.[18]

On 16 November 2014, Adams recorded a career-high 6 blocks in a 65–69 loss to the Houston Rockets.[19] On 25 December 2014, he recorded 16 points and a then career-high 15 rebounds in a 114–106 win over the San Antonio Spurs.[20] On 21 January 2015, he recorded a career-high 20 rebounds in a 105–103 overtime win over the Washington Wizards.[21] On 9 February 2015, he was ruled our for three weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a broken ring finger on his right hand.[22][23] He returned to action on 8 March after missing eight games to record 6 points and 6 rebounds in a 108–104 win over the Toronto Raptors.[24]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2013–14 Oklahoma City 81 20 14.8 .503 .000 .581 4.1 .5 .5 .7 3.3
2014–15 Oklahoma City 70 67 25.3 .544 .000 .502 7.5 .9 .5 1.2 7.7
Career 151 87 19.7 .531 .000 .534 5.7 .7 .5 .9 5.3

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2014 Oklahoma City 18 0 18.4 .689 .000 .348 4.1 .2 .1 1.3 3.9
Career 18 0 18.4 .689 .000 .348 4.1 .2 .1 1.3 3.9

References

  1. ↑ "Steven Adams Stats, Video, Bio, Profile". NBA.com. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "13 – Steven Adams". NBADraft.net. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Fittipaldo, Ray (7 October 2012). "Pitt big man Steven Adams' backstory is as interesting as his future is intriguing". Post-Gazette.com. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  4. ↑ Heagney, George (25 October 2013). "Te Huna's team ready to bounce". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "Steven Adams Bio". PittsburghPanthers.com. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  6. ↑ Johannsen, Dana (30 July 2014). "Dana Johannsen: Proud Kiwi should play for NZ". NZHerald.com. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Steven Adams – Basketball Recruiting – Player Profiles". ESPN.com. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Grimes, Tim (3 April 2013). "NBA Draft 2013: Steven Adams Declares, and Is an Underrated Prospect". BleacherReport.com. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  9. ↑ Abercrombie, Nicola (3 April 2013). "Kiwi Steven Adams declares for NBA draft". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  10. ↑ Worthington, Sam (7 February 2011). "One size-20 step to Saints, giant leap for NBA". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "Player statistics for Steve Adams". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  12. ↑ Golliver, Ben (27 June 2013). "Steven Adams selected No. 12 by Thunder in NBA draft". SI.com. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  13. ↑ "Thunder Signs Steven Adams and Andre Roberson". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  14. ↑ "Recap: Thunder 85, Rockets 77". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  15. ↑ "OKC Thunder: Steven Adams shines again as Thunder trims Pistons". NewsOK.com. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  16. ↑ "Steven Adams Named to All-Rookie Second Team". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  17. ↑ "Thunder Announces Summer League Roster". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. 5 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  18. ↑ "Thunder Exercises Options on Adams, Roberson Jones and Lamb". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  19. ↑ "Harden leads Rockets past Thunder". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  20. ↑ "Westbrook scores 34, lifts Thunder over Spurs". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. 25 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  21. ↑ "KD2DC game yields Thunder win, 105-103 over Wizards in OT". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  22. ↑ Young, Royce (9 February 2015). "Steven Adams has surgery". ESPN.com. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  23. ↑ "Oklahoma City Thunder centre Steven Adams out for three weeks". Stuff.co.nz. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  24. ↑ Hinton, Marc (9 March 2015). "Kiwi Steven Adams solid in NBA return as OKC Thunder edge Toronto Raptors". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 9 March 2015.

External links