One day Steven Adams is going to show up to a game and he’s going to be covered with tattoos. I mean, more than he normally is. Like a full-body tattoo. His current level of tattooage already makes him look like a fierce, unstoppable Tongan warrior, and it’s only on one arm. Even if he just tattooed the other arm and his chest, I doubt anybody would tussle with him ever again. I certainly wouldn’t tussle with him, but that’s because I’m a skinny dude of average height who has never been in a fight with his life. NBA players with more fighting experience than I would be rightfully wary of a guy who obviously is ready to kick the ass of European settlers invading his homeland, not to mention basketball players who foul him a little bit too hard.
Throw Adams up there at the top of the list of dudes in the NBA whom you never want to make angry. So what if he has no actual history of beating the crap out of people? He obviously could do it, so obviously you don’t want to provoke him. His name is right there next to Matt Barnes, who will show up at private barbecues at your house to kick your ass, and Metta World Peace, who doesn’t even care if you’re just a fan whose beer slipped out of his hand. Adams is right up there with those guys.