Steven Adams
| Full Name: | Steven Adams |
| Nickname: | Big Kiwi |
| Place of Birth: | Rotorua, New Zealand |
| Shoe Size: | 18 |
| Education: | Pittsburgh |
| Parents: | Sid Adams and Lilika Ngauamo |
| Spouse: | Ezel Kokcu |
Steven Adams Biography Details, Age, Net Worth, & Basketball Career
Steven Funaki Adams is a professional basketball player from New Zealand who plays center for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. Adams is known for his hard-nosed style of play, with his superior physicality making him one of the most difficult bigs to deal with in today’s NBA.
Having played alongside several all-stars in his career, Adams has been an anchor on the glass for multiple contenders.
Steven Adams Basketball Career
Steven Adams started his high school basketball career at Rotorua Lakes in Rotorua, New Zealand. Getting through a difficult upbringing, he enrolled in Scots College in Wellington, New Zealand and got his grades up to the point that he could continue his high school career in the United States. He did so at Notre Dame Preparatory School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He played there for a semester, in order to get himself used to the demands of basketball in the United States.
Adams played his college basketball at the University of Pittsburgh. Named Big East preseason rookie of the year, he played one season with Pitt, starting in all 32 games that Pittsburgh played that season. He was named to the Big East all-rookie team that season, averaging over seven points and six rebounds per game that season and proving that he could hang in an elite college basketball conference.
After the 2012-2013 season, Adams announced that he would be leaving the NCAA basketball ranks and heading into the NBA Draft.
Steven Adams was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 12th overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft. At the time, the OKC Thunder were led by Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, with the team needing an additional rim protector and rebounder to back up Serge Ibaka. In Adams’ rookie season, OKC made it to the Western Conference Finals, where they fell to the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs went onto win the NBA Finals in the next round of the postseason, defeating the Miami Heat.
After falling to the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs in 2015, Durant left the team to join the Warriors, making Adams’ contributions even more valuable. Adams took advantage of his increased role offensively, upping his career-high all the way to 27 points in 2017. And while the Thunder were still performing well in the regular season, with their star power earning them games on national TV including ESPN, they still were not able to ride Adams and Westbrook to a title.
When Westbrook was traded to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul, and Paul George was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019, Adams’ ability to make teams earn everything in the paint became one of the focal points of the Thunder. Against teams at the top of the West that have paint presences, such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Adams is one of the most valuable components OKC has to offer.
Steven Adams Net Worth, Salary, Endorsements & Career Earnings
Steven Adams signed a four-year, $100 million contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016. He has already earned over $56 million from his NBA contracts thus far and will go over $100 million in career earnings by the time his contract is up.
Adams has an estimated net worth of $27 million.
Adams has accepted endorsement deals from Adidas and Powerade over the course of his career, in addition to what he has earned from the Thunder.
Steven Adams Personal Life
Adams was born in Rotorua, New Zealand to Sid Adams and Lilika Ngauamo. His father served in the New Zealand Royal Navy and is said to have fathered 18 children. Adams has three brothers and one sister. That sister is Valerie Adams, who is an Olympic gold medalist in the shot put. His brothers Warren and Sid Jr. played professional basketball in New Zealand.
Awards & Achievements
Steven Adams Fun Facts
- Steven Adams is the highest-paid athlete from New Zealand
- He is far from shy, doing colorful interviews and appearing on podcasts such as the Lowe Post Podcast along with podcasts related to the Oklahoma City Thunder specifically.
- Adams has said that Oklahoma City reminds him of New Zealand, a feeling that is likely hard to replicate in New York or Los Angeles.
- He sold a comic book about himself, Kiwi Legend, at San Diego Comic-Con in 2018.
- Steven Adams is a huge anime fan by his own admission. He once elected to watch anime instead of the opening game of the NBA season. Luckily for the Thunder, they were not playing in the game that Adams missed.
| Season | Team | G | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023-2024 |
0 | N/A | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
2022-2023 |
42 | 27.0 | 59.7 | 0.0 | 36.4 | 11.5 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 8.6 | |
2021-2022 |
76 | 26.3 | 54.7 | 0.0 | 54.3 | 10.0 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 6.9 | |
2020-2021 |
58 | 27.7 | 61.4 | 0.0 | 44.4 | 8.9 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 7.6 | |
2019-2020 |
63 | 26.7 | 59.2 | 33.3 | 58.2 | 9.3 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 10.9 | |
2018-2019 |
80 | 33.4 | 59.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 9.5 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 13.8 | |
2017-2018 |
76 | 32.7 | 62.9 | 0.0 | 55.9 | 9.0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 13.9 | |
2016-2017 |
80 | 29.9 | 57.2 | 0.0 | 61.1 | 7.7 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 11.3 | |
2015-2016 |
80 | 25.2 | 61.3 | 0.0 | 58.2 | 6.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 8.0 | |
2014-2015 |
70 | 25.3 | 54.4 | 0.0 | 50.2 | 7.5 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 7.7 | |
2013-2014 |
81 | 14.8 | 50.3 | 0.0 | 58.1 | 4.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 3.3 |
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