Steven Adams tells the story of how he stopped Kevin Garnett from quitting by saying he didn’t speak English

Steven Adams is secretly one of the funniest guys in the NBA.

You wouldn’t think so when you look at the New Zealander who looks like a Dothraki extra from Game of Thrones, but he is. It was seen on The Morning Shift Podcastwhere Adams told the story of how he became a legendary trash talker as a rookie Kevin Garnett only to come back and say he doesn’t speak English (one of New Zealand’s official languages, along with Maori, and it’s Adam’s native language).

“My confidence wasn’t high, so I tried not to let anyone break me down. Kendrick Perkins and KG were playing together, so they started bitching. Then I came in and (Garnett) was like, ‘Yo, look at this m***********,’ and I was like, ‘No English, bro. Sorry. No English.’

“Then he just didn’t say anything. I thought, ‘Thank goodness.’ That would have destroyed me, bro, I would have cried.”

Garnett saw the story and now goes after Adams in a game of old men.

Adams missed all of last season due to knee surgery. Midway through the season, the Grizzlies traded Adams to the Rockets, who have him under contract for $12.6 million through this season. If he is healthy enough to play this season, Adams would replace Alperen Sengun at the five, splitting minutes with Jock Landale and Jabari Smith Jr.