The Oklahoma City Thunder were happy and jovial after winning a game no one thought they would. They beat the Golden State Warriors 108-102 stealing home court as they won game 1 of the Western Conference Finals at the Oracle. Things took a bad turn however (aside from Westbrook’s controversial travel), as Steven Adams was describing Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson aka the Splash Brothers.
Adams was asked as a big man, how much of a challenge it was to chase Curry and Thompson around? He responded saying they’re “quick little monkeys.”
Steven Adams chooses the wrong words to describe the Warriors’ guards. “They’re quick little monkeys,” he says. pic.twitter.com/ss5DbHilqD
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) May 17, 2016
22- year old Adams apologized, and the New Zealand born player of Tongan and British descent, explained the differences in dialect; basically he didn’t know about the connotations of describing an African American as a monkey.
“It was just a poor choice of words, mate,” Adams told USA TODAY Sports. “I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t know it was going to upset anyone, but I’m truly sorry. It was just a poor choice of words. I was just trying to express how difficult it was chasing those guys around.”
Adams, who came to America to attend the University of Pittsburgh in 2012, said differences in dialect were, in part, to blame.
“It’s just different, mate,” he said. “Different words, different expressions, and stuff like that. But they obviously can be taken differently, depending on which country you’re in. I’m assimilating, mate, still trying to figure out the boundaries. But I definitely overstepped them tonight.”
