Steven Adams, AKA the toughest guy in the NBA, copped a rocket of a pass right to his face during his Memphis Grizzlies’ NBA season-opener today.
4 minutes into a tight fourth quarter against the New York Knicks, Adams was walking along the sideline to sub into the game when former MVP Derrick Rose swung an errant bullet pass that boomfa’d right into Steve’s noggin.
The Grizzlies’ commentators know what’s up.
“That didn’t even affect him,” they said. “I think the ball hurt more than Steven Adams.”
You can tell Steve was unaffected by the way he reacted, flinching just a tiny bit before laughing it off and jokingly telling the referee to give Derrick Rose a technical foul.
That’s an Aotearoa legend right there.
Steve knows a thing or two about bullet passes. His full-court pass to teammate Ja Morant last year was awarded as the best assist of last season. Read more about that below.
Adams, our greatest basketball export, played a big role in getting the win for the Grizzlies. Adams grabbed 14 rebounds throughout the game, alongside three assists and three points, two of which came late in the fourth quarter.
48 minutes of basketball ended up with tied scores between the two teams, so the game went to overtime, where the Grizzlies managed to hold off the Knicks to win by three points.
Adams’ Memphis Grizzlies are one of the best teams in the league this season, with ESPN ranking them as the fourth best out of thirty teams in their power rankings last year. They made the conference semi-finals last year, losing to the eventual champions, the Golden State Warriors.
Steven Adam’s former team, the New Orleans Pelicans, also won today, in a much more comfortable fashion. They whopped the star-studded Brooklyn Nets by a score of 130 -108.
