Taking time out
Steven Adams on Covid, his farm, outfits and that kick
When Covid-19 first struck last year, Kiwi NBA star Steven Adams felt he needed to be somewhere he could take stock of a rapidly developing situation. Luckily for him, his recently acquired farm ticked that box just perfectly.
Adams opened up on a number of topics during a lengthy podcast chat with New Orleans Pelicans team-mate JJ Redick recently, including New Zealand’s mostly successful fight to keep the deadly virus at bay, and his own decision to seek sanctuary there when the pandemic first turned the world on its head in 2020.
Redick, in his weekly podcast The Old Man & the Three, quizzed Adams about New Zealand’s success combating Covid-19, noting a viral video featuring Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, among others, enjoying uninhibited festivities at a large barbecue event.
‘‘The boys send me videos all the time of them partying,’’ Adams told Redick. ‘‘I’m just ‘cool bro, have fun, I’m stuck in my hotel room and can’t even leave’ ... it’s one of those situations [that] New Zealand is just built for.
‘‘It’s a rich country, it’s isolated, there is no mistrust in the government or authorities. Everyone kinda just followed the rules . . . there was not some sort of weird social infection growing and everyone slowly not trusting anything and misinformation everywhere. There was none of that. Everyone was pretty levelheaded and just got it done.’’
When the NBA went into abeyance during the early days, weeks and months of the pandemic, Adams repaired to New Zealand. Redick asked him about his farm (run by his brothers) where he spent much of his time back in his home country.
‘‘It’s an amazing piece of land,’’ Adams told his Pelicans team-mate. ‘‘You see it and it should be like an art piece, just where it’s located. There are some nice hills there, it’s right on the beach, so it overlooks the sea, there’s a nice volcano out there in the distance, we’ve got forest out back, some deer frolicking around . . . it’s just a dairy farm, nice and green, in the Bay of Plenty where it gets the most sun in New Zealand.’’
Redick asked the bruising Kiwi if the farm was his ‘‘happy place’’ as he sought refuge there amid the onset of the pandemic last year.
‘‘There was so much uncertainty about the future,’’ said Adams. ‘‘No-one knew what was going on ... the farm was a saviour sort of thing. The routine doesn’t change. Everyone else’s routine was affected when it shut down; the cows don’t care, mate, they still need to get looked after.
‘‘So going out on the farm I just adopted that routine and it felt somewhat normal with all the other stuff going on. It’s less scary now the whole Covid thing, but at that point no-one knew anything, and it was just nice to get that kind of peaceful whatever.’’
Sticking to a theme, Redick also quizzed his 27-year-old centre on his ‘‘minimalist’’ wardrobe and generally laidback approach to life.
‘‘It’s Kiwi culture, a New Zealand thing, where if it just does the job, it does the job,’’ responded Adams, who is one of the less ostentatious dressers in the NBA. ‘‘It’s just clothes, it keeps you decent ... you don’t have to be too fancy about it.
‘‘In America there is a huge pressure for luxury; in New Zealand not so much. It’s more practical. We do have the luxury side but it’s not as
important, and nor does anyone even give a rats arse about it, to be honest.
‘‘I’m dressing kind of normal for a Kiwi, no matter the temperature. It’s usually some sort of nice, warm overcoat, shorts and jandals . . . or flipflops. That’s the standard attire.’’
Redick called the whole paredback approach to life in general by Adams a ‘‘simplification of the why’’, though the big New Zealander had a different explanation. ‘‘Is it just not giving a f . . . mate? It sounds like you just described not giving a rat’s arse about most things that are out of your control.’’
Adams, born and raised in Rotorua and moved to Wellington for his schooling and hoops tutoring under Kenny McFadden, admitted the NBA lifestyle had been somewhat of a culture shock for him.
‘‘It’s a huge changeup. There are just too many moving parts . . . you have this crazy schedule where every day you’re doing something with the NBA. You kinda get detached from reality. A lot of people, they’ll just kiss you’re ass a little bit. You’re the funny guy, they laugh at all your jokes, you become a lot more handsome. This is what comes with the NBA logo.
‘‘It’s just not reality though ... in America athletes are held really high. Some people look at them for political guidance, for moral guidance, and so forth, and, hmmm, maybe [it should be] just for the sport for this dude. That’s just my thinking and why it’s a tough one to navigate.’’
Adams also opened up on the doubts he had for himself leading into the 2013 NBA draft on the back of a college season with Pittsburgh in which he averaged 7 points and 6 boards.
‘‘I was just there for the ride. I had no expectations of even making the NBA. I took whatever workouts I could get and was having a blast. They would fly you there, you would get free food, hang out with the GMs and stay in these nice hotels. At the time I thought they were nice hotels.’’
Not bad, though, for a kid from New Zealand who was ‘‘trash’’ at basketball until McFadden got a hold of him.
‘‘I ended up getting pretty OK, like talented . . . got lucky with the old scholarship, mate, and here I am.’’
Adams also opened up on his first seven seasons in the NBA with the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he teamed with such notables as Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Chris Paul.
He described Westbrook as ‘‘intense, passionate, angry, psycho’’ on the court, but off it a ‘‘solid dude, really cool’’. He was never in awe of either Westbrook or Durant because he knew so little about them, but did remember getting punched a lot his rookie season. ‘‘Everyone was hitting me that year. I was playing really hard because that’s what they told me to do, and everyone was getting ejected for elbowing or punching me.
‘‘All these dudes were hitting me back and I would just carry on and wouldn’t give them a reaction. I guess that’s what pissed them off even more. I will say I won the Memphis Grizzlies [playoff] series. In game six, Zach Randolph punched me in the face and could not play game seven. I claim that victory solely because of my contribution.’’
Adam also reflected on the 2016 Western Conference finals defeat to the Golden State Warriors after the Thunder had led 3-1. That would be the catalyst for Durant leaving OKC to join the Warriors, and also see Adams suffer a much talked-about kick to the groin from Draymond Green.
‘‘It was like, ‘man, we were so close, let’s run it back’. Hmm, we all know how that one went ... there was a lot of drama in the whole series. I got kicked in the nuts. I guess this is what I’m famous for ... The pain on that one was just the absolute worst. I hate that more than the whole KD thing. I wasn’t even mad at the game or anything. I was just mad at the nut kick.’’
And when Durant chose to leave OKC, Adams was probably last to find out. ‘‘I didn’t have much of a relationship [with KD], I wasn’t even aware . . . I’m quite oblivious to a lot of things, especially dramas. I just exist in that moment and try to be happy.’’