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The fighting spirit of Steven Adams has helped him face much more formidable challenges than the opposition to the NBA's seven-footer.
The Oklahoma City Thunder Center Revealed How He Had Overcome Depression Accesses The most beautiful basketball export of New Zealand revealed in his new book, My Life, My Fight, that the first episode It was produced while he was only 13 years old – before going abroad to pursue his own American dream.
"After my father's death, I did not have [the fight]," Adams said. "I knew that I wanted to do something, but I did not know what it was, and if a goal had not happened soon, I would have started looking for something, would not it? anything, to feel a high. "
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Adams seriously risked going down a different path. He was fighting for motivation and was often not in school.
"When I think back, I realize that I was actually very lonely and, if I'm honest, probably a little depressed, no one had told us how to cope. We did not see a therapist or attend therapy sessions.
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But he quickly regained his taste for basketball. Determination and passion were back.
With strong support networks set up by his many mentors, Adams became a force to be reckoned with on the ground. MVP rewards at national tournaments were common and the imposing character was beginning to impress a much wider audience of coaches and scouts than the tiny New Zealand.
So, in 2011, Adams found himself at Notre Dame Preparatory School. Adams did not fight homesickness and loneliness.
Adams struggled to adapt to life in the United States during his semester at Notre Dame, far from friends, family, and mentors. He described the school as "an absolute shithole" and "straight out of a horror movie".
"I had a hard time being alone again and it was difficult I got used to having a very close community around me, always ready to help.
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"For me, the trick to combat thoughts of loneliness has always been to find a routine. Had a busy routine all the time I was in Wellington and it had never given me time to pity myself
"Once arrived at Our Lady, I saw how everything was miserable.
The help of a member of Notre Dame's coaching staff allowed him to get through this battle, but similar problems arose when he went at the University of Pittsburgh
.
"During those first few months in Pitt, I was seriously thinking of setting everything up, leaving America and going back to New Zealand where I was more comfortable, I would say That's at least half of what I felt was Adams saying, "It's not easy to be completely alone in a new school and in a new country, the usual tips for making oneself friends and starting a family do not work for me.I went through it with pure determination and knowledge that it wasnt forever.If this led me to make a career in basketball, I was ready to endure lonely and painful years.
"By the time I stop playing basketball, I will leave." and there was one thing that I knew it was that I had to leave before it spoiled the game forever. "
Adams spent a season in Pittsburgh before turning to the lights es of the NBA. 19659006] He was drafted as the 12th pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Thunder.
A move that probably saved his career and saw the big Kiwi become one of the NBA's elite centers.
"If I get up one day and I do not have this fight to keep getting better, things will get degraded quickly, but it's pretty simple. The only thing that keeps me alive is this constant fight no matter what it is.
"Right now, I'm happy, I have a dream job where I can do what I like every day." I love my teammates, which is a big bonus I have my own space where I can relax and have fun.But the main reason I am happy is because I have my fight. "
– Stuff
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