Kids clamour for the biggest kid of all
The more things change for New Zealand’s NBA star, the more they stay, just perfectly, the same. Three years tucked away in the NBA, centre stage in one of its biggest playoff controversies and on the verge of signing a new deal that will make him the highest paid Kiwi in sport, and Steven Adams remains just Steven Adams. It seems like the bigger he gets, the simpler he likes to keep it.
That much was clear as New Zealand’s biggest basketball superstar, and the pride of the Oklahoma City Thunder, held court with the media ahead of the first of three special camps he’s holding here as part of his now annual off-season plan to give back to the country where it all began.
As 250 basketball-bouncing kids streamed into the North Shore Events Centre yesterday to get close to their hero, the Adams influence couldn’t have been written larger if it was a Graham Hoete mural.
These kids − and organisers say they could have had two or three times the number if they could have coped − had taken the day off school to pack the four courts of the NSEC just to get their brush with Adams.
And the look of awe on their faces confirmed they were living a moment that would remain with them for a long, long time.
As Adams sashayed around the courts, swatting shots like the schoolyard menace, high fiving, cajoling, and generally behaving like the biggest kid in the world, you could see that this is indeed where he’s most comfortable.
Minutes earlier, he’d told us about what had inspired him to become a basketballer, and it was as though those words were still echoing around the stadium.
‘‘I fell in love with basketball because . . . I didn’t actually like the game at first. It was enjoyable but as much as I love it now it wasn’t like that. I mainly fell in love with the progress. I saw a little bit of progress and it made me feel like I had a bit of purpose in my life.
‘‘As cheesy as that sounds, it actually did. Because I was in a bad spot and didn’t feel like anything. Once I saw me grow, I understood I could grow to be something I wanted to be. It wasn’t an NBA player, I just wanted to see myself grow every day. It happened to be basketball. My genetics are good for basketball. It pretty much went from there.’’
And that is what he’s hoping, in their own small way, that these camps can help instil in the next wave of youngsters, the next Steven Adams, if they’re out there. kids that basketball is a fun sport to play, but also showing them that there’s an opportunity there to use it as a vehicle if they wish to get a degree, or an education.’’
These Adams camps are important. Kids need to see their heroes up close and personal. One moment can mean the world, if it’s with the man himself. And the Kiwi’s pull, in terms of infrastructure, sponsors, facilities, whatever, is massive.
The NSEC was not just a tide of hoops kidmanity, but a who’s who of Kiwi basketball. Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare was there. Mika Vukona. Casey Frank. Lindsay Tait. Dillon Boucher. Everyone wanted to be a part of what Adams is bringing back to his country.