Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams has improved leaps and bounds from when he came into the league, establishing himself as a force inside the paint, especially on the offensive glass. It has also made him part of a rare breed of players who average more rebounds on the offensive end than on defense.

Part of his success is the amount of box-outs he completes during games, resulting to him leading the league in this statistic. Second on the list is Adams’ former teammate and good friend, Enes Kanter, which surprised the New-Zealand big man. He was asked to give his thoughts about it and he joked the New York Knicks big man by calling him “lazy.”

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Adams and Kanter played together for the Thunder for three seasons from 2014 to 2017. They formed a strong bond and became good friends, which they still are despite playing for different teams now. It can be recalled that the Turkish international became part of the deal that sent Carmelo Anthony to Oklahoma City in the offseason, ending his tenure with the team. He has since been playing at a high level, and is now one of the Knicks’ focal points, with Kristaps Porzingis out for the remainder of the campaign.

The box-out statistic may not be one of the most popular and monitored ones in the NBA, but with the two leading it, there could be a friendly competition brewing between them. Some friendly competition between the two good friends would only make it more fun to watch them go hard on the boards night-in and night-out.