Basketball's New Wave: The Young Superstars Taking Over the Game

Basketball's New Wave: The Young Superstars Taking Over the Game — page 7
the coach at the University of Pittsburgh had played professionally and later coached in New Zealand He persuaded Adams to come play for him After one season in college Adams was taken by the Thunder with the No 12 pick in the 2013 draft That made him the first player from New Zealand to be a first-round pick in the NBA Draft Unlike most players drafted that high Adams wasn’t going to a struggling or rebuilding team The Thunder already one of the best teams in the league had traded for the pick Oklahoma City needed Adams to be productive right away In Adams’s first season the Thunder went all the way to the Western Conference Finals They got back there again in his third season falling just one win short of making the NBA Finals Adams would continue to increase his scoring average as the years went on but he rarely made it a priority unless the Thunder needed it He just wants to win and that’s all that matters to him Westbrook said That didn’t always make Adams popular with his opponents The Los Angeles Times polled players in 2016 and they voted Adams the second-dirtiest player BASKETBALL’S NEW WAVE