Steven Adams pretended he couldn’t speak English as a rookie so Kevin Garnett wouldn’t trash talk him

Kevin Garnett is a legendary trash talker. Over the course of his career his fellow NBA players said he was one of the most brutal, biting, cruel talkers in the league — who always knew the perfect thing to say in order to break your spirit.

So, nobody can blame Steven Adams for not wanting that smoke as a rookie, but the way he avoided it was utterly hilarious.

“My confidence wasn’t high, man — so I wasn’t trying to get torn down. He’s the man with the s*** talking. Talks, he talks bro. He was talking to someone, Kendrick Perkins, because he was KG played together so they started mouthing off. Then I was coming in and he said something and I said “No english, bro. No english, bro.” So he didn’t say anything, and I was just like “thank goodness.””

It goes without saying, but just in case there’s any confusion: Adams is from New Zealand. He speaks english. It’s his first language. The bad news for Adams though is that KD say this, and he’s ready to make up for lost time when it comes to trash talking.

Good luck, Steven.