Through his first four years in the league, Oklahoma City Thunder big man Steven Adams has yet to play for his country of New Zealand in international competition.
However, this may change in the near future with Adams recently stating that he will possibly be suiting up for his home country in the near future, according to Ben Francis of Newshub.
“Yeah, definitely. When the time is right, I may be suiting up,” he told reporters in Manila on Tuesday.
“We're just talking about when's a good time because they understand my commitments with the NBA. Obviously, that comes first.”
The 23-year-old was not selected to play for the national team in next month's Asia Cup in Lebanon, which leaves his next chance to play is next year in the June-July international window. New Zealand currently does not have any NBA players on the roster. In fact, they have just two players in Adams and Boston Celtics big man Aron Baynes representing the country in the NBA.
In order for Adams to get an opportunity to play for New Zealand, it would first have to get cleared from the Thunder given that he is a big piece of the puzzle for the franchise. He is set to begin playing under his four-year, $100 million deal.
Adams has developed into a productive player in the league coming off his best individual season where he averaged career highs with 11.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 29.9 minutes per game.
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