Steven Adams

Steven Funaki Adams (born 20 July 1993) is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing one season with the Wellington Saints, in 2011, Adams moved to the United States in 2012 to play college basketball for Pittsburgh. Adams was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 12th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft. He was the Thunder's primary starting center for six consecutive seasons. In November 2020, after seven years in Oklahoma City, Adams was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans. In August 2021, he was dealt to the Memphis Grizzlies. Early life Steven Adams was born in Rotorua, New Zealand, to a Tongan mother and an English father. His father, Sid Adams, was from Bristol and served in the Royal Navy. He settled in New Zealand where he fathered 18 children with five women. Sid Adams stood tall, and his children inherited his height: Steven Adams' brothers average tall, while his sisters average . Two of his half-sisters are athletes: Dame Valerie Adams is a dual Olympic gold medallist and four-time world champion shot-putter and Lisa Adams is a para athlete who has won gold at the Paralympics in shot-put. His brothers, Warren and Sid Jr., had careers in the New Zealand National Basketball League. His sister, Gabriella Adams-Gavet, has played basketball for the New Zealand national team. Sid Adams was in his sixties when his youngest child Steven was born, and Sid died of stomach cancer when Steven was 13. Adams has identified his father's death as one of the defining events of his life. In a 2012 interview, Adams recalled: When I lost my dad, that was a big hit for me. I didn't have that parental guidance, and I kind of took advantage of it because I was a stupid idiot. I decided not to go to school a couple of times, go when I felt like it. I always lied to my brothers and sisters. They'd ask: 'Are you going to school?' I'd say 'yeah'. They eventually found out.