At just 22 years old, Steven Adams is quickly becoming one of the most physically dominant big men in the game. This was especially clear throughout the Thunder’s playoff run and upset over the San Antonio Spurs. But the Western Conference Finals raised things to a whole new level once the battle between Adams and Warriors’ forward Draymond Green began.
If you watched or even followed any of the 7-game series, then chances are you saw or heard about more than a few questionable tactics by Green, of which Steven Adams was usually the victim. There were a couple blatant shots to the groin area along with trips and the eventual take down in Game 7 that actually backfired on Green. But through all the battles and questionable calls, Adams insists that he and Draymond Green hold no grudges against each other and went up to Green after the game to leave things on the court.
Article Continues Below“It was just a battle, and that's why I felt like I needed to go up to him after the game, after the series ended, to give him credit,” Adams said.
“This sort of relationship, you gain respect just from going to absolute war, back and forth, so that's all (the embrace) was. Just paying respects.”
While the two paid their respects and apparently hold no grudges, there were also no apologies from either side.
“There were no apologies from either of us. Just a congratulations,” Adams said. “There's no hard … there's no thing off the court. We aren't going to hate each other. We aren't going to hate. On the court, we hate each other … off the court it's fine.”
With both players being so young and playing for teams that have consistently gone to the playoffs over recent years, this may be the beginning of a great rivalry we could see for several years to come.
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