Steven Adams
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Adams in 2017
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| No. 12 – Oklahoma City Thunder | |
|---|---|
| Position | Center |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
20 July 1993 Rotorua, New Zealand |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) |
| Listed weight | 255 lb (116 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
Rotorua Lakes (Rotorua, New Zealand) Scots College (Wellington, New Zealand) Notre Dame Prep (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) |
| College | Pittsburgh (2012–2013) |
| NBA draft | 2013 / Round: 1 / Pick: 12th overall |
| Selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder | |
| Playing career | 2011–present |
| Career history | |
| 2011 | Wellington Saints |
| 2013–present | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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|
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Steven Funaki Adams (born 20 July 1993) is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball for Pittsburgh, he was labelled a top international prospect for the NBA. Adams was selected by the Thunder with the 12th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft.
Adams' mother is Tongan, and his father, Sid, was an Englishman who settled in New Zealand after serving in the Royal Navy. Adams is the youngest of Sid's 18 children with five different women. His siblings and half-siblings are notable for their exceptional size and athletic prowess; his brothers average 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) and his sisters average 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in). His sister Valerie Adams is a double Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion shot-putter, and brother Sid Adams, Jr. is a NZNBL player.
Adams has identified his father's death in 2006 as one of the defining events of his life. In a 2012 interview, Adams recalled:
When I lost my dad, that was a big hit for me. I didn't have that parental guidance, and I kind of took advantage of it because I was a stupid idiot. I decided not to go to school a couple of times, go when I felt like it. I always lied to my brothers and sisters. They'd ask: 'Are you going to school?' I'd say 'yeah'. They eventually found out.
One of his brothers, Warren, stepped in to fill the gap, rescuing him from the streets of Rotorua and brought him to Wellington to live with him. Warren placed him in a local basketball academy, and the head of the academy arranged for him to attend Scots College. Although some commentators in New Zealand believed Adams would not qualify to play for college basketball, he did well enough to qualify academically to play in the NCAA.
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