Memphis Grizzlies center Steven Adams, who celebrates his birthday today, is a great basketball player for a number of reasons. One of the most obvious is his size and strength. He is a physical force on the court, able to hold his own against some of the biggest and strongest players in the league. This allows him to excel as a rim protector and rebounder, consistently ranking among the league leaders in both categories.
Adams is also a great team player, always putting the needs of the team above his own. He is known for being a selfless player who is willing to do the dirty work, setting screens, diving for loose balls, and doing whatever else is needed to help his team win, even if this means harming himself.
In an episode of the Podcast P with Paul George from last month, George shared the story of seeing his then teammate Steven Adams gashing his face hard during a dead ball situation. It was late in a game, and the Thunder had no timeouts remaining, even thought they needed one, which lead to Adams getting creative.
“I’m looking at Stevo and he’s scratching his face hard as f**k. I’m like, ‘Stevo, bro, what you doing?’ He’s like, ‘Ah mate, we don’t have a timeout, I’m trying to bleed.’”