Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams had some time to reflect on many situations during a trip to memory lane with ESPN's Zach Lowe. The 2016 Western Conference Finals came up in conversation, when Adams' Thunder matched up against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors and when he received a kick to the groin from Draymond Green
This incident became forever embedded as a meme to remember from this decade:
The Kiwi center looked back at the incident and determined he didn't feel there was any ill intent from Green, but rather the determination to seek contact and flail for a call:
“Ummmmm … (long pause) … that's a tough one,” Thunder center Steven Adams said on The Lowe Post podcast. “It is. That's a tough one. Nah, nah, he didn't. I think he wanted to flail — he intentionally wanted to flail — but I don't think (he thought), ‘Let me just pinpoint, accurate, shin right into old mate's crown jewels.' I don't think he thought that.
“I thought he was like, ‘Ah, there's contact, flail, bang.' Twice in the same series (laughing).”
Green had several of those “flailing” incidents in the Western Conference Finals, and it eventually caught up to him in the NBA Finals after the Warriors overcame a 3-1 deficit against the Thunder, giving up a lead of their own against the eventual champion Cleveland Cavaliers once Green retaliated against LeBron James for walking over him after a play.
Draymond Green was suspended for Game 5 of the NBA Finals, which changed the fate of the series and likely brought some sense of poetic justice for those who were at the end of his kicks.
This season, Steven Adams' Thunder are one of the most pleasant surprises in the NBA, boasting a 17-15 record and holding the No. 7 seed in the West. There have been some trade rumors involving the big man, but perhaps this surge keeps him in OKC.
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