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That time Steven Adams came to appreciate Russell Westbrook in the shower

Ben Rohrbach
Senior NBA writer
Showers always bring the Oklahoma City Thunder closer together. (AP)
Showers always bring the Oklahoma City Thunder closer together. (AP)

Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams, finally granted an opportunity to speak for himself, waxed poetic about the team’s togetherness in a trying season following Kevin Durant’s departure.

“The team chemistry was amazing, honestly,” said Adams, via Inside Thunder. “With everything that happened and what we have, being able to actually make it this far is actually just amazing in itself.”

OKC lost half its playoff rotation from the roster that nearly won the 2016 Western Conference finals, including the former MVP and their rim-protecting power forward Serge Ibaka, whose absence Adams said still has him searching for answers on the defensive end. So, to the rest of us, 2016-17 became Westbrook’s vengeance tour, and it was to the degree of a record-breaking triple-double season. But that did not come without criticism of how tough it must be to play with such a high-usage superstar.

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Not so, said Adams. Quite the opposite. During the Thunder’s exit interview process on Wednesday, not 24 hours after a five-game loss to the Houston Rockets in the first round, Adams regaled us with a tale of the time he learned Russell Westbrook was “a legit dude” while standing naked in the shower:

New Zealand website Stuff has the transcription of the nation’s favorite NBA son baring all about Russ:

“It just comes down to him being awesome, really ─ just like a really good dude, and he really tries to help you out in whatever way he can and improve your game. That’s the biggest thing, and that’s why it’s really fun to play with him. He’s not trying to just separate himself, even though it’s quite a big [separation]. Let’s be fair, he is out there [as a talent], but he is really trying to bring us with him the best he can, so that’s the biggest thing as a player playing with him, that’s the biggest thing that stuck out.”

Asked for specifics, Adams continued:

“Honestly, it was nothing in the game. One of our players was having a tough time, and I was kinda in the background, hidden. I wasn’t stalking or anything; I was actually taking a shower, to be honest. But I kinda peeked over, and he was having a word, really trying to just bring one of our teammates up and really help him out mentally and get him back on track.

“I listened to most of the conversation, and it was really good stuff what he was saying. That’s when I was like, man, this guy’s legit. He’s actually a legit dude for doing that. Most players will just be like, ‘Oh, we all have troubles,’ whatever, but he went out of his way to really help the dude out.”

Finally, when asked to confirm this was “not stalking,” Adams responded in a tremendous bit of self-deprecation: “Eavesdropping, in the shower, naked. So, it is weird. That is weird. Sorry mate.”

What a way for the wildly entertaining 2016-17 Oklahoma City Thunder to go out. The shower story flies in the face of the one-man show persona Westbrook emanates on the court, but it also supports the notion Westbrook put forth in his defensive “don’t split us up” response to a question after Game 4:

This OKC group really liked each other, which might be both part of the reason why they were so hurt by Durant’s decision to leave Oklahoma City and why they so willingly rallied behind Westbrook as their forerunner. You just don’t learn these things unless Adams gives you a peek inside the shower.

Regardless, it appears Adams is confident Thunder general manager Sam Presti can keep his successful chemistry experiment going next season, based on this most Adams of Adams responses:

“The front office does a really good job of making sure a dude’s a good dude,” said the New Zealander. “And these dudes here, man, they do an amazing job that anyone in the facility is like a good person.”

As for how that translates to success on the court is another matter, but for now, let’s just appreciate the story of how Steven Adams came to love Russell Westbrook while standing naked in the shower.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!