Steven Adams is known to be one of the nicest players in the NBA but also one of the toughest. However, there came a time when Adams wasn't tough enough to face the wrath of Kevin Garnett. The Houston Rockets center shared a hilarious story about him faking having a language barrier to avoid hearing harsh words from Garnett.
Adams hopped on the most recent episode of THE MORNING SHIFT podcast. In that episode, the hosts wanted to confirm if the story about the Rockets center faking a language barrier was true. The big man didn't deny the question and hilariously told them what exactly took place.
Adams told the hosts the reason behind his shenanigans was because he wasn't feeling confident on that night. The last thing he needed was to get verbally destroyed by Garnett. He then mentioned that the one-time champion's trash-talking began when he got into a heated moment with his former teammate Kendrick Perkins. Adams then had to check in for Perkins and immediately told Garnett he didn't know how to speak English.
“My confidence wasn’t high man,” Adams said. “I wasn't trying to get torn down. … Kendrick Perkins and KG played together. They started mouthing off. I was coming in, and [Garnett] was like ‘Yo, look' and I was like ‘No English, bro'. He didn’t say anything after that, thank goodness. He would’ve ruined me.”
Steven Adams' evolution in the NBA
Steven Adams is one of the nicest players in the NBA today. On top of his good demeanor, Adams backs it up with solid numbers as a center. As a result, teams tend to want having him on the team whether it's for the starting position or just a bench player.
While Adams made it seem he was afraid of players like Kevin Garnett in his younger years, he is currently one of the toughest big men in the league. Some players even shared their stories of how baffled they were to discover the big man's strength. Thanks to his superhuman abilities, Adams is able to utilize them and use them to his advantage.
As of the 2022-23 season, before Adams got injured, he averaged 11.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 42 games. He also once ranked 12th among the Defensive Player of the Year candidates back in the 2017-18 season. The big man even arguably played a big role in Russell Westbrook's MVP season.
Now with the 2024-25 season rapidly approaching, the Houston Rockets are hoping to get the same player Adams was before getting injured. Hopefully, the New Zealander giant can deliver on his role when the time comes.
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