Best Game Ever: Steven Adams recalls the high school opponent with two kids
By Dan Woike
Steven Adams is averaging career bests of 14.4 points and 9.6 rebounds this season for the Thunder (Kyle Phillips / Associated Press)
Dan Woike asked NBA players to tell us about the best game in their basketball career. This week: Steven Adams.
Sometime in 2009-10: Scots College vs. Mana College
The NBA's resident Dothraki warrior, Adams is one of the league's most physically imposing players. The Oklahoma City Thunder center is 7 feet, 265 pounds with tattoos, long hair and a bushy beard. But there was a time he wasn't the biggest or the baddest. While in high school in New Zealand, Adams ran into a foe he couldn't bully.
"I played for this private school team. The athletes there, they weren't the cream of the crop, let's put it that way. We ended up doing pretty well in our league. … We were in the lowest league you could be in, playing a lot, doing really well. And we ended up making it to the champion league — which is all these other crazy big schools that actually try and sign on players. It was Mana College. And there was a dude there who played who was like 22 with two kids. We had to play against this dude. He had a full beard. I remember being like, 'What the hell?' ... I think he was working at the bloody saw mill or something. … The dude just showed up on the game night — with his family. And, we lost. We lost."
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