NBA season 2018/19
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Steven Adams has said no to joining the Tall Blacks at the World Cup.
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@Sneakdefreak said in NBA season 2018/19:
Steven Adams has said no to joining the Tall Blacks at the World Cup.
It's a shame but he seems to have his mind made up for the time being
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Adams sure talks a good game about being a proud Kiwi but . . . that's about it.
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It's a good trade, where both teams get what they want.
I'm still not convinced about the Lakers. Davis is clearly a great player, and Lebron is Lebron, but I want to see what they do with their remaining cap space.
If they can get a decent 3rd player, or 2-3 capable role players, then I'd look at them as West favourites maybe.
But if they do what they did last time and recruit a string of washed-up bozos like Michael Beazley then I'm still unsure they can be good enough to topple Houston or Portland.
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@Smudge said in NBA season 2018/19:
Adams sure talks a good game about being a proud Kiwi but . . . that's about it.
Apparently the Tall Blacks slight is over a basketball camp he went to years ago that he was told would be subsidised and it wasn't.
Fucken Hell, get over it Stevie !
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I reckon he is just got injuries. Looked like all of this year he was playing subpar. Hopefully working on an aray of shots.
His 3 point shot in practice videos I've seen is good. His book is a decent read about him and nz ball.
If he plays or doesn't doesn't worry me too much.
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Good of Adams to consider playing in the Olympics if the team get there.
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@Magpie_in_aus said in NBA season 2018/19:
Rumours going about kemba walker.
That'd be a scary addition to LBJ and AD.
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@MN5 said in NBA season 2018/19:
@Smudge said in NBA season 2018/19:
Adams sure talks a good game about being a proud Kiwi but . . . that's about it.
Apparently the Tall Blacks slight is over a basketball camp he went to years ago that he was told would be subsidised and it wasn't.
Fucken Hell, get over it Stevie !
I thought it was a tour he couldn't pay for so had to miss out on?
There's only so much money at BBNZ. I wonder how he'd like it if they re-structured and spent more on kids' development, he made himself available as a result, and on his first Tall Blacks tour he had to stay at a Motel 6. I'm sure BBNZ isn't trying to only develop kids who can raise the funds to go on tours as this would be wildly detrimental to the game. It's just a fact of life that they can't fully fund tours across all levels and kids and their families have to contribute in order to go.
I reckon this'll be the start of a gentle backlash against Adams from Kiwi basketball fans who - like me - are starting to become a little offended by his 'moral stance takes precedence over country' policy. Plus I'm offended every time I see him wear a Chiefs jersey.
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@shark
For a guy who slept on couches and was stoked to get shoes that fit I don't think a shit motel would get him but get the point.Him playing for the tall blacks and tvnz getting behind it would be huge for ball in Nz
I remember sitting in class at high school watching PC and the crew at the FIBA world champs get to the semis.Marks getting his eye scratched in the early games and everyone else stepping up Ed book, sparky, paul, Pauro. One of my most find nz sports memories up there with the soccer world cup qualifier (and tournament), 1996 rugby your win in SA and 2011 world cup.
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@Magpie_in_aus yeah that 2002 WC was huge for NZ bball. Pero Cameron made the tournament team and then got a try out with the Detroit Pistons.
Finishing 4 with only powerhouse teams ahead of us was a proud moment.
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OPINION: Steven Adams is threatening his sporting legacy in New Zealand by continuing to refuse to play for his country in the international basketball arena.
That's one obvious thought while processing his latest head-scratching decision to say no to the Tall Blacks for the upcoming World Cup in China. His actual choice should not really surprise us – at least he is consistent in his rejection of his country's hoops needs – but it is deserving of scrutiny.
Maybe it's something he cares about. Possibly not. Either way there has to be a legacy cost in play here. It is hard to recall another top Kiwi sportsman or woman who has steadfastly and unilaterally refused to represent their country the way Adams has.
It beggars belief, in many ways.
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He keeps telling us he's a proud Kiwi. How much he loves this country that spawned him. He keeps coming back each off-season, and running his golf event and his camps for kids. Yet his actions keep representing a different message.
At some stage New Zealanders are going to have to make up their own minds about just how they regard a sportsman who refuses to represent his nation in any shape or form on the global stage.
There can be no doubt that Adams is New Zealand's greatest ever basketballer. His achievements already, at the tender age of 25, in the NBA for the Thunder remove that from the realm of debate. He is halfway through a US$100 million four-year contract that puts a monetary value on his abilities, and we see for ourselves every time he takes the court what a special performer he is.
More from
Marc Hinton • Senior Sports Writer
marc.hinton@stuff.co.nzThere has quite simply never been another with his gifts, his talent, his ability that has come out of this little country in the south Pacific. Not to play basketball anyway.
Yet should he be beloved by New Zealanders the way our sporting icons traditionally are? Should he be rated alongside the likes of Beauden Barrett or Kane Williamson or Tom Walsh or Chris Wood or Lisa Carrington, contemporaries who continue to perform special deeds with the silver fern on their chests? Or even a Scott Dixon who you get the feeling would if he could?
Even closer to home, should he be revered in the same manner that his older sister Valerie is, with her multiple world titles and pair of Olympic gold medals? They are peas from the pod, yet so very different.
Does he deserve one day to sit in a pantheon alongside the likes of Sir Peter Snell, Sir Murray Halberg, Sir John Walker, Sir Richard Hadlee, the great Martin Crowe, Sir Colin Meads, Sir Brian Lochore, Richie McCaw, Susan Devoy, Erin Baker etc etc etc?
The true greats of the games we play.
The former is something you probably need to decide for yourself and the latter will become apparent over the course of time.
Yet there must surely at least now be asterisk alongside the Adams name.
- The man who refused to play for his country.
Steven Adams is beloved in Oklahoma City for his standout play for the Thunder .
AP
Steven Adams is beloved in Oklahoma City for his standout play for the Thunder .
To some it doesn't matter. Plenty of you will say he proves what he has to for the Thunder. That he goes to battle against the best in the world every day in the NBA. That he represents his nation on the global stage in the greatest league on the planet.
Fair enough. That's your call.
But others will say it's a glaring and damning absence in his CV. That his meekly explained, but steadfast, rejection of his country is a red mark on his resume. They will compare him to his Aussie equivalents who are all lining up in China, and arch an eyebrow. Same with his many NBA contemporaries who are also making their way there for a myriad of teams.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is maybe the best player in the NBA. He'll be there for Greece. Playing against the Tall Blacks. The juxtaposition says it all, really.
Yes, Adams makes Kiwis proud with what he does in the NBA. But, no, he has not made his national team better by doing his bit alongside others who are far less fortunate, and talented, than he. He is an enigma wrapped in a riddle.
He has never ever pulled on a Tall Blacks singlet. Never. He would have been wanted since he was 16 or 17 (the national coaches have never been shy about throwing talented schoolboys into the mix) but has always had an excuse, or a reason, to bypass the national programme.
It's all so confusing. Adams has yet to satisfactorily explain why someone who projects as such a proud New Zealander has such a lack of interest in playing for that same country.
He might argue he owes no one an explanation. That what he does with his time in his off-season is his own damn business. You could possibly understand that.
Yet ultimately Adams' legacy will be decided by just how he is perceived by his people. Is he beloved? Has he scaled the heights? Sweated blood for his country?
Hard to say that right now. In fact you could make the case he has done more for the city of Oklahoma than he has for the nation of New Zealand. Is that his legacy? You be the judge.
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When he was striving to get a new contract and had to work on his game everyone understood. If he's hurt or beaten up and needs rest I can understand that. His production dried up further into the playoffs. Or maybe he's just a merc who is intent on taking care of himself and his family. Either way it's his life. But it is disappointing that a man in his position, seemingly fit and healthy, doesn't want to front for his country
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Lamelo ball to Illawarra Hawks. The kid can play.
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wait, what? LaMelo Ball signed with the Illwarra Hawks? That should be interesting.
haha snap mate!
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Im sure the next announcement will be LaAngelo Ball to the Hawkes Bay Hawks development squad in a bid to get to the NBA.
