Do we like Steven Adams?
Our score: 8 out of 10. One badly chosen phrase in 2016, apologised for, against years of real work for young New Zealanders and nothing harmful found since.
Steven Adams is the big Kiwi centre who left New Zealand for the United States in 2012 and has been grinding out an NBA career ever since. He's now on the Houston Rockets, a veteran role player rather than a headline act.
His one proper stoush with the court of public opinion was in May 2016. After a playoff win over Golden State, he described the Warriors' guards on live TV as “quick little monkeys”, and the backlash was swift. He apologised within a day, calling it “just a poor choice of words, mate”, and said he'd been trying to describe how hard they were to chase. He put some of it down to being a Kiwi who'd only been in the US a few years.
On the harm check, that remark is the only mark we found. Searches turned up nothing from him on LGBTQ+ or trans people, women, vaccines or the climate, in either direction, so we can't say what he thinks on those. He's one of the owners of the A-League club Auckland FC alongside majority owner Bill Foley, former All Whites and a former All Black; nothing harmful turned up about that group.
Nothing new on him lately beyond the basketball. Heading into the 2026-27 season he's expected to be Alperen Şengün's backup in a smaller role, which is a long way from controversy territory.
The good stuff is real and mostly done without fuss. In 2023 an Auckland charity auction for his Sports Pathways Trust raised about $167,000, which helps young New Zealanders, especially rangatahi, pursue study and basketball. Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni said at the time that he's “giving them a shot at pursuing their dreams”.
We found no convictions, lawsuits or allegations against him, and that's honestly the whole list on that front. Where we land: he passes on being a decent bloke, and the harm test gets an asterisk for 2016 only. We'd happily wear the jersey.