Always walking: Adams a strolling philosopher across NBA cityscapes
PORTLAND, Ore. — It’s a gray afternoon in a city that has 500 shades of that color, and the coach is out for a stroll, umbrella in hand.
Ron Adams, the defensive mastermind of the Warriors, is taking a break to clear his mind, to stretch his legs and to feel the pulse of the city. Like many NBA coaches, Adams is an urban explorer, though his adventures are limited by the demands of his job.
There was a two-hour coaches’ meeting this morning, and a lunch meeting with the team. In a couple of hours, Adams will be on the team bus for a hop across the Willamette River to the Moda Center for Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the Trail Blazers.
Adams sets off uphill at a brisk walking
pace. He used to tour cities as a jogger, but 20 years ago, his knees said, “Sorry, Ron.”
Portland is a good walking town. Adams likes to hit the streets for a half-hour or so a day, says it refreshes him.
“This city has a backwoods feel, yet it’s modern, trendy,” Adams says. “There’s a certain mentality. Free spirits.”
He’s on the lookout for a coffee shop. Odds are good — there seem to be a few hundred of them in the neighborhood.
Adams would like to saunter over to Powell’s City of Books, the renowned bookstore, to check out the poetry section, but there’s not enough time today.
Adams loves poetry, reads himself to sleep with it. He is close friends with former Warriors forward Tom Meschery, a poet of note. Adams also writes poetry, but not this time of year, certainly not during the playoffs. Ah, the playoffs. He can almost sniff them in the air.
“The job is wearing, but the playoffs are delightful,” Adams says. “The regular-season games are like two ships passing in the night. Now there’s only one team (at a time to prepare for), and you can marshal your focus, really look at a team, get players involved in a much more meaningful way.”
Adams sets a peppy pace, using his long umbrella as a jaunty walking stick. He says the night before, the team’s coaches, who often dine as a group on the road, ate at Al-Amir, a Lebanese restaurant owned by Joe and Lydia Massaad, friends of head coach Steve Kerr since Kerr spent one season here as a player. Kerr was born in Beirut.
“It’s like sitting down with your family,” Adams says. “She’s a wonderful community organizer for disadvantaged people, and Joe has a huge heart.”
In Memphis, Adams has a favorite tea parlor/café, run by longtime friend Suhair Lauck. “One of the kindest and most delightful people I’ve met. It’s really significant to be around spiritual people. They bless and enrich your life, right?”
Adams says his favorite walkaround cities include Boston, New York, Miami, Chicago, Denver.
“In Los Angeles, we stay in Beverly Hills. It’s really unique, a great contrast to the Bay Area. You’re walking around and seeing a different mentality.
“I like people-watching, and seeing how a city is structured architecturally. A lot of it is seeing the sociology of an area, coupled with the aesthetics.”
He spots a likely landing spot, a coffee shop called Heart.
Inside, small world: Adams runs into Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser and video coordinator James Laughlin. This must be a good place, because these two are no coffee dilettantes. Fraser has a small coffee business on the side, and Laughlin is buying a $20 bag of beans to use in his private cold-brew recipe.
Adams, 71, is the Warriors’ oldest coach. Kerr hired him in 2015, and this is Adams’ 25th season as an NBA assistant, his seventh team.
“I’m fortunate to have great people to work with,” Adams says, nodding toward his co-workers. “We have some really compelling young people in the program. ... For someone my age, they’re absolutely delightful. A lot of laughs, a lot of good, hard work . ... I take a lot of flak, but that’s part of it.”
Adams orders green tea, seems relaxed as he eases into a seat by the window. It helps that the Warriors have a 3-0 series lead, but he’s not a panic guy. During the Warriors’ series against Houston, the TV camera zoomed in on a grim-faced Adams sitting next to Kerr. The Warriors were under siege, and the announcers speculated that Adams was about to explode with rage and frustration.
Bad read, Adams says. People tell him he should smile more on TV, but he’s the Professor — that’s just his face.
“We’re such a resilient group, I wasn’t worried or frustrated,” he says. “In the NBA, you have to keep your emotions in check. There’s this confidence we have. We know who we are, what we’re capable of doing.
“It’s force and focus. The playoffs are a truer indication of who we are as a defense. We had a couple of (subpar) games against the Clippers, who were excellent. Houston knows how to play us, I thought that was a really good series for us, and (also) this one.”
Adams says he and Kerr sometimes talk politics. A Gregg Popovich/Kerr ticket has been proposed for the next U.S. presidential race, but Popovich seems disinclined, so maybe Adams could be Kerr’s running mate?
“Steve needs someone of the opposite sex for that job,” Adams says.
Maybe Adams for secretary of defense and poet laureate.
For now, he’s a basketball coach. Adams strolls back to the hotel to do more game prep. That night, his defense will help produce a series-clinching overtime victory. On to the NBA Finals, on to another city.