The OKC Thunder Kiwi Bible – An ultimate guide to Steven Adams

Adams Reputation Among his Peers:

Steven has a cunning ability to aggravate opponents, all while staying out of referee hearing range, and he’s been the cause of several opponents’ technical fouls and game ejections. As Vice Sports writer John Wilmes so eloquently put it, Steven Adams is “a highly effective NBA sociopath.”

In fact, he was voted one of the dirtiest players in the league by his own peers. In an informal poll of Association players and coaches conducted by the Los Angeles Times, Adams ranked second – just behind Matthew Dellavedova and in front of Andrew Bogut. This past season Complex ranked the nine dirtiest players with Adams ranking eighth of nine.

According to Newshub, one of the polled coaches told the LA Times that he doesn’t agree with everything Steven does on the court. “He throws elbows, extra hitting dudes away from the ball, hitting them with the chicken wing, and trying to get a rise out of them,” he said.

An anonymous player added, “He’ll throw a sneaky elbow, push you in the back, and foul you extra hard.”

Steven has an explanation, though. He told ESPN:

"“It’s mostly because I wanted to listen to the coach. My coach Scotty Brooks yelled at me early that I shouldn’t react because reacting hurts my team. So it hurts, but I don’t want to hurt my team.”"

Over the years, Steven has evolved into what you might call a friendlier athlete. He’s not as scrappy, and takes a different approach to how he treats his opponents. Instead of that carefree, rough and tumble attitude of his “youth,” Steven has shifted to learning the styles and tendencies of his peers.