‘I’m an awkward Kiwi guy’
As usual Steven Adams was at his most revealing when it came to himself at the Oklahoma City Thunder’s annual media day ahead of the looming NBA season.
The highlight of an otherwise run-of-the-mill appearance by the Thunder’s 25-year-old New Zealand centre came when a reporter asked him about his personality and whether what we saw around the team reflected the real Steven Adams.
Adams summed himself up as ‘‘an awkward Kiwi guy’’ in a response that gave the most intimate indication of the complex personality that hides behind the jokey exterior seen on a daily basis around the Thunder.
‘‘I’m quite an awkward guy,’’ said the 2.13m Kiwi who is set to earn US$24 million (NZ$36M) this season. ‘‘It’s a weird situation, especially to ask someone how they personally act when they’re up on stage. It’s a different sort of thing.
‘‘If you and me go have a beer, mate, it will be a different interaction just because of that. Sure, I’m just an awkward guy … let’s just leave it at that.’’
But the reporter didn’t want to. So he followed up by asking Adams how much of his unique character was about where’s he’s from. Is he just a typical New Zealander, personality wise?
‘‘Yeah, I think so, mate, just a normal Kiwi guy,’’ he responded. ‘‘Some stuff you guys laugh at, they [New Zealanders] won’t laugh at it there. It’s just different cultures, mate. You could just say I’m a Kiwi guy – an awkward Kiwi guy, mate. Keep it simple.’’
He’s an awkward Kiwi guy who is going to be central to any success the Thunder have this season as they forge on around their centre and superstar perimeter duo of Russell Westbrook and Paul George. Coach Billy Donovan made it clear that he again expects Adams to improve, despite coming off a career-best season (13.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, 63 per cent FG) in 2017-18.
‘‘Steven has continued to get better every year since I’ve been here,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘He’s obviously an elite defender, he’s a terrific roller, and I thought last year he flowered in his role. He did a great job last year all the way from beginning to end.
‘‘All the things we needed him to do to impact the team, he really did. Steven has always been a really good team guy, has always had an attitude of ‘what can I do to help, what can I do to make the team better?’ I thought last year, from start to finish, he had a terrific year.’’
Of course, as has become custom around the Thunder, reporters wanted to know if their Kiwi centre was ready to add a three-point shot to his repertoire. It is kind of a running joke at the organisation, given as Adams takes almost no shots from outside the painted area.
‘‘No, absolutely not,’’ he replied. ‘‘Maybe. Nah. Preseason? Nah. I gotta see, mate, because I don’t want to lose my job. It’s tough.’’
He also provided an interesting perspective on whether he noticed anything different about Westbrook now he was a father, with a second child on the way.
‘‘When anyone says that it’s more internal . . . it’s more because you have a kid it’s just like a mirror really. I’m not a parent, I don’t know, but that’s what it seems like. It’s more his own evaluation on himself, and none us will see it, which is fair.’’
Adams otherwise ticked off his queries with standard responses, almost always asking the reporter to clarify his question.
Training camp now gets under way, then pre-season, before OKC tip off the real stuff on October 16 at Golden State.