NBA General Managers have voted New Zealand basketball star Steven Adams the fourth toughest player in the NBA, along with Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green.
All 30 GMS voted on a number of different categories including who they thought would win MVP, and who would be most likely to have a break-out season, but when it came to toughness the 23-year-old Kiwi could not be left off the list.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Tony Allen took the honours of the NBA's toughest player for the second straight year with 23.3 percent of votes, followed by San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard with 16.7 percent. Adams' teammate Russell Westbrook was third with 13.3 percent of the votes.
Then came Adams and Green with 10 percent of votes. Many consider Adams and Green to be arch rivals following their incident in last year's NBA Western Conference Finals when Green took a deliberate shot to Adams groin.
Steven Adams dunks on Draymond Green (Getty Images)
Australian guard Matthew Dellavedova rounded out the top five with 6.7 percent of votes.
Russell Westbrook was asked about being on the toughest players in the NBA and he was not bothered about being on the list.
"That's cool, I guess," he said. "But I don't know. It doesn't mean much to me. Like I said before, if I was ranked one, if I was ranked 20, it doesn't change regardless of if I'm tough or not."
Westbrook believes that his Kiwi teammate is much tougher.
"Steven, for sure," Westbrook said. "I don't consider myself a tough guy, but I don't turn down from no challenge. I'll tell you that much".
The 2016-2017 NBA season kicks off on October 25 NZT when the New York Knicks face defending NBA champions Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland, while the Thunder's first game will be against the Philadelphia 76ers on October 26.
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