Steven Adams Bio
Steven Funaki Paea He Ofa Ki Loa Adams is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A center, Adams has played for four NBA teams since making his NBA debut in 2013 and is widely respected around the league for his strength, rebounding, and down-to-earth personality.
Born in Rotorua and raised between New Zealand and the United States, Adams rose from New Zealand domestic basketball to a seven-season run with the Oklahoma City Thunder before stops in New Orleans and Memphis. He authored the autobiography My Life, My Fight in 2018.
Steven Adams
Early Life and Background
Steven Adams was born on 20 July 1993 in Rotorua, New Zealand, to a Tongan mother, Lilika Ngauamo, and an English father, Sid Adams, who served in the Royal Navy and stood about 2.11 metres tall. His mother worked as a nurse before her death from cancer in 2000, and his father died of stomach cancer in 2007, when Adams was thirteen years old.
Adams has credited his father’s death as one of the defining events of his youth. In a 2012 interview, he recalled losing parental guidance, skipping school, and lying to his older siblings about his attendance before being rescued from the streets of Rotorua by Blossom Cameron, who became his legal guardian and moved him to Wellington.
Cameron enrolled Adams at Scots College in Wellington and introduced him to Wellington basketball legend Kenny McFadden, who accepted him into his academy on the condition that he attend school every day. Adams is a member of a large blended family. His half-sisters include Olympic shot-put champion Dame Valerie Adams and Paralympic gold medallist Lisa Adams, while his brothers Warren and Sid Jr. played in the New Zealand National Basketball League.
Path to Basketball
Adams attended Rotorua Lakes High School before moving to Scots College in Wellington, where he continued to grow as a player under McFadden. After graduating from Scots in December 2011, he enrolled at Notre Dame Preparatory School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, for one semester to adjust to the American game.
In June 2012, Adams joined the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. In his lone college season, he started all 32 games, was named the Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year, and earned Big East All-Rookie Team honours while averaging 7.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game.
Following the 2012-13 season, Adams declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his remaining college eligibility. On 27 June 2013, the Oklahoma City Thunder selected him with the 12th overall pick, making him just the second New Zealander ever taken in an NBA draft and the first selected in the first round.
Steven Adams Career
Early Career (2011-2013)
Before committing to college, Adams spent the 2011 season with the Wellington Saints of the New Zealand National Basketball League. He went unpaid by the Saints in order to preserve his NCAA eligibility, was named the league’s Rookie of the Year, and helped Wellington win the championship, averaging 5.5 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15 games.
After his year at Notre Dame Prep and his single season at Pittsburgh, Adams was projected as a physical, defense-first center. His combination of size, shot-blocking, and rebounding made him one of the more intriguing international prospects of the 2013 draft class.
Oklahoma City Thunder Breakthrough (2013-2020)
Adams signed his rookie scale contract with the Thunder in July 2013 and made his NBA debut on 30 October 2013, recording two points and three rebounds in a 101-98 victory over the Utah Jazz. He appeared in 81 games as a rookie, averaging 3.3 points and 4.1 rebounds, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team after the season.
Over the next several years, Adams developed into one of the league’s premier interior defenders and offensive rebounders. In January 2015, he grabbed a then-career-high 20 rebounds in an overtime win over the Washington Wizards, and in the 2015-16 playoffs he helped Oklahoma City reach the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
On 31 October 2016, Adams signed a four-year, $100 million contract extension with the Thunder, cementing his role as the franchise’s starting center. He posted a career-high 27 points on perfect shooting against the Minnesota Timberwolves on 1 December 2017 and joined Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka as the only Thunder players to reach 3,000 career points and 350 career blocks.
Across seven seasons in Oklahoma City, Adams started more than 400 games and became a fixture on two Western Conference Finals squads. On 24 November 2020, the Thunder traded him to the New Orleans Pelicans.
New Orleans Pelicans (2020-2021)
Adams signed a two-year, $35 million extension as part of the trade to New Orleans. He opened his Pelicans tenure with steady interior play, grabbing a season-high 20 rebounds in a January 2021 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks and scoring a season-high 15 points in a March 2021 loss to the Miami Heat.
On 7 August 2021, after roughly half a season in New Orleans, Adams was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Memphis Grizzlies (2021-2024)
Adams slotted in as a reliable veteran presence for the up-and-coming Grizzlies. On 23 October 2021, he scored 17 points with nine rebounds and five assists in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers, and on 26 February 2022 he grabbed 21 rebounds in a victory over the Chicago Bulls.
On 2 October 2022, Adams signed a two-year, $25.2 million contract extension with Memphis. On 18 January 2023, he scored a game-winning tip-in against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but four days later suffered a posterior cruciate ligament sprain in his right knee. He missed the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, and then missed the entire 2023-24 NBA season after undergoing surgery on the same knee.
Houston Rockets Era (2024-Present)
On 1 February 2024, Adams was traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Victor Oladipo and three future second-round picks. He made his Rockets debut on 28 October 2024 against the San Antonio Spurs and gradually worked his way back from knee surgery, reaching full strength in early 2025.
On 30 January 2025, Adams recorded a double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists against his former team, the Memphis Grizzlies, in his first start of the season. On 18 June 2025, the Rockets signed him to a three-year, $39 million contract extension running through 2028.
Driving Style and Strengths
Adams is known as an elite offensive rebounder and a skilled interior defender, and he is widely considered the strongest man in the NBA. His game centres on physicality, screen-setting, and second-chance opportunities rather than perimeter scoring.
Notable Events and Milestones
Highlights of Adams’s career include the 2016 four-year, $100 million extension with Oklahoma City, the 2022 extension with Memphis, and the 2025 extension with Houston. He is also remembered for catching an airborne Mason Plumlee during a December 2018 game rather than attempting an uncontested shot, a moment frequently cited as an example of his character.
Steven Adams Career Wins
Adams’s most prominent team success came in his native New Zealand, where he helped the Wellington Saints win the 2011 New Zealand NBL championship. At the NBA level, he reached the Western Conference Finals twice with the Oklahoma City Thunder, in 2014 and 2016, and played in the 2025 NBA Playoffs with the Houston Rockets.
NBA Highlights
Across 81 games in his rookie season, Adams averaged 3.3 points and 4.1 rebounds and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. He went on to become a long-term starter and rebounding anchor for Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Memphis, and Houston.
Other Wins and Performances
Adams was named the 2011 New Zealand NBL Rookie of the Year and an NZNBL champion with the Wellington Saints. He was also named the 2012-13 Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year and earned Big East All-Rookie Team honours with the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Steven Adams Family
Family Background and Basketball Lineage
Adams comes from a large blended family of Tongan and English heritage. His half-sister Dame Valerie Adams is a dual Olympic gold medallist and four-time world champion shot-putter, while his other half-sister Lisa Adams is a Paralympic gold medallist in shot-put. His brothers Warren and Sid Jr. played in the New Zealand National Basketball League, and his sister Gabriella Adams-Gavet has represented the New Zealand national basketball team.
Personal Life
Adams has said that Dota 2 and Smite are among his favourite video games. In 2018, he released the autobiography My Life, My Fight, co-written with childhood friend and journalist Madeleine Chapman, and in 2022 he appeared in the documentary film Dame Valerie Adams: More than Gold.
2025 Season Performance
Adams returned to full strength in January 2025 after missing the entire 2023-24 season recovering from posterior cruciate ligament surgery. He split his minutes between a reserve role and spot starts, posting a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds in his first start of the year against Memphis.
In the 2025 NBA Playoffs, Adams played a key role in the Rockets’ first-round matchup with the Golden State Warriors, recording 17 points, five rebounds, and three blocks in a 115-107 Game 6 victory. Houston ultimately fell in seven games.
Following the season, the Rockets signed Adams to a three-year, $39 million extension running through the 2027-28 season, signalling his continued role as a veteran interior presence for the franchise.