Steven Adams Pretending He Didn't Speak English All So He Could Avoid The Wrath Of Kevin Garnett's Shit Talking Is An All Time Move
What an all time move here by Steven Adams. When it comes to the greatest shit talkers the NBA has ever seen, you hear names like Larry Bird, Gary Payton, Michael Jordan, Kobe, Rasheed Wallace, Reggie Miller, and Charles Barkley.
High on that list is also Kevin Garnett, a true legend of the shit talking game. While my personal favorite is the time he told Melo his wife tasted like Honey Nut Cheerios (I don't care if they later try to deny that, it definitely happened), there is an endless supply of hilarious KG talking shit moments that have come out over the years
Advertisement
the mental warfare aspect of KG's game is one of the things that made him so great. He didn't care who you were or what team you were on, the second you stepped on the court with him you were a potential target and he damn sure wasn't going to hold back. Anything and everything was on the table at all times.
That's why I love this move from rookie Steven Adams.
(As a quick side note, we need more of Steven Adams on the mic. He's hilarious and the New Zealand accent will always play. It doesn't matter what the story is, you throw either that or an Australian accent into the mix and it makes it 10x better)
You have to remember, Steven Adams even as a rookie was intimidating as hell. At 6'11 265, he's one of the few players in the league that you absolutely do not want to start something with as I'm pretty sure he's made of stone. Why do you think Draymond keeps kicking him in the dick? Because the dude is like The Mountain and anything else simply doesn't work.
So to hear a guy like that pretend he doesn't speak English just so he could avoid some KG trash talk is fantastic. There's no chance KG even knew who he was as a rookie so I'm sure it was believable at the time, and there's something very funny about Steven Adams of all players, a guy who other NBA players most definitely fear/don't want to mess with, doing everything he could to avoid the wrath of Kevin Garnett. That's how you know KG was as ruthless as it gets when it came to talking shit.
After missing all of last season after having knee surgery, I forgot that Adams is actually on the Houston Rockets now. With their jump last year and the continued development of guys like Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr, Sengun, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, and Cam Whitmore, being able to add a vet like Adams to the mix of their other vets like VanVleet and Dillon Brooks has the Rockets looking pretty good entering next season, and that's before you also add whatever Reed Sheppard (who looked awesome in Vegas) ends up giving them as a rookie.
It's going to take at least 46ish wins just to get into the Play In in the West, but remember, when a healthy Adams played with the Grizzlies he was a big part of why that team was so tough and consistently found themselves with 50 wins. As long as he's healthy, why can't the Rockets take a leap?