Basketball's New Wave: The Young Superstars Taking Over the Game
12 Oklahoma City 3 McCollum
CHAPTER 1 Steven Adams As the youngest of 18 children in his family Steven Adams had to learn to stick up for himself If not his older siblings could make things hard on him His brothers average 6 feet 9 inches and even his sisters average 6 feet So from an early age Adams had to figure out how to hold his own against big strong competition They do teach me a lot of things Adams said I was more competitive because I was always the weakest Playing against my sisters and my brothers the older ones would play really rough and elbow you Plus the younger ones did a little too No wonder he became one of the toughest players in the National Basketball Association NBA Even in the NBA Steven Adams often towers over the opposition
Battling against opponents his own size is no big deal for Adams While his Oklahoma City Thunder have had great scorers such as Kevin Durant Russell Westbrook and Paul George over the years Adams has never been one to worry about his points The burly center instead takes on the tough tasks such as setting screens so his teammates can get open and being a rugged rebounder and defender Adams and His Superstar Big Sister Even with all his NBA success Adams isn’t even the most accomplished athlete in his family His half-sister Valerie was the Olympic gold medalist in the shot put in 2008 and 2012 She also won the silver medal in 2016 and remains one of the best in the world Representing New Zealand she was unbeaten in major world events from 2006 through 2014 Competing with her when he was younger and watching her train as an adult helped teach Steven lessons he would need to be successful in his own career I thought I worked hard and a lot of people say I do as well but seeing her work is on a whole other level It’s absolutely unbelievable She’s the most disciplined person in the world and just the hardest worker he said BASKETBALL’S NEW WAVE
He can have a huge impact on our team Thunder general manager Sam Presti said before the 2018 19 season And the reason he’s so valuable to us he has such a big impact on our team by doing the things that are within his control Growing up Adams played rugby the most popular sport in his home country of New Zealand But with his size and skills it soon became clear that his future would be in basketball An imposing presence Adams is 7 feet tall and 265 pounds with long hair and a thick beard He possesses strength that is common among rugby players but sets him apart against most of his rivals on the basketball court That guy is the strongest most physical guy in the league Former Thunder coach Scott Brooks That guy is the strongest most physical guy in the league said Scott Brooks Adams’s former coach in Oklahoma City But Adams isn’t only just about force He also can show finesse with a nice shooting touch During the 2017 18 season he finished fourth in the NBA in field-goal percentage making 63 percent of his shots THE YOUNG SUPERSTARS TAKING OVER THE GAME
