Adams looks set to bypass Tall Blacks
Prepare for disappointment Kiwi sports fans. Do not expect to see Steven Adams’ name among the prospective Tall Blacks who will prepare for the upcoming round of World Cup qualifying games.
Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare will announce his initial training squad of 20 tomorrow, and Stuff understands Adams will not be among them.
Sources close to the national setup have indicated the Kiwi NBA star looks set to once again make himself unavailable.
And if that is what plays out ahead of the Tall Blacks’ games against Hong Kong in Rotorua on June 28 and China in Auckland on July 1, then Kiwi hoops fans, and even the wider New Zealand sporting community, are entitled to feel a little disenchanted.
Adams has never played for the Tall Blacks during his transcendent hoops career, despite his strong identity in the NBA as a ‘‘proud New Zealander’’.
Previously the single Fiba window has required a much longer commitment and Adams’ preference has been to work solely with his own trainers or those provided by the Oklahoma City Thunder organisation during his off-season.
But this year there had been hope – high hope – that a favourable landscape would see the 24-year-old Rotorua-born, Wellington-schooled basketballer end that exile.
The third Fiba window under the new World Cup qualifying process is just a few days. It falls neatly in the NBA off-season. Both games are in New Zealand, so there is no travel commitment required. One of those fixtures is even in Adams’ home town, which Basketball NZ no doubt hoped might even become a deciding factor.
Adams is in New Zealand at this time too, again working with a charity golf event and his annual training camps for youngsters, as well as enjoying some down time between seasons.
But for now it seems like the giant Kiwi, who is one year through a US$100 million (NZ$142m) four-year contract extension with the Thunder, will continue to decline to wear the silver fern of his country.
Given the favourable nature of circumstances this year, with several senior Tall Blacks admitting it was a ‘‘now or never’’ type scenario, there will be disappointment that Adams could not be introduced to the national team culture.
And concerns that future events, such as next year’s World Cup in China, could be more problematic given the longer duration.
The Tall Blacks are on course to safely progress to the World Cup, and can probably negotiate the remainder of the qualifying process without Adams. But the hope had been that a small involvement in this window would prove the catalyst to a more meaningful one down the line.
Henare should still have a strong group to choose from with a number of Kiwi US collegians, including wellperformed Virginia big man Jack Salt, keen to re-establish links with the Tall Blacks by turning out in this window.
Henare will also look to continue his strong youth development policy with recent age-grade standouts Max Darling (Christchurch) and Kruz Perrott-Hunt (Auckland) thought to be among the 20 trialists to be named Thursday to attend a camp in Wellington from June 17-21.