Alvan Adams
American basketball player (born 1954)
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Alvan Leigh Adams (born July 19, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player. He spent his entire 13-year career with the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Adams was named as the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1975 and selected as an NBA All-Star in 1976. He retired in 1988 and holds Suns records for games played (988), minutes played (27,203), rebounds (6,937) and steals (1,289). Raised in Oklahoma City, Adams was nicknamed the "Oklahoma Kid".[1]
(Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Adams in 1987 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | July 19, 1954 Lawrence, Kansas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Putnam City (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Oklahoma (1972–1975) | ||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1975: 1st round, 4th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Drafted by | Phoenix Suns | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1975–1988 | ||||||||||||||
| Position | Power forward / center | ||||||||||||||
| Number | 33 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| 1975–1988 | Phoenix Suns | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Points | 13,910 (14.1 ppg) | ||||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 6,937 (7.0 rpg) | ||||||||||||||
| Assists | 4,012 (4.1 apg) | ||||||||||||||
| Stats at NBA.com | |||||||||||||||
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Early life
Adams was born in Lawrence, Kansas, and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.[1] His mother, Ilse, was from Austria and met his father, Richard Paul, when they were students at the University of Kansas.[2] Adams was named after the biblical figure Alvan.[3] His father worked as a petroleum geologist.[2][3]
Adams attended Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City where he led the basketball team to a 67–11 record as a three-year starter.[3] The team was undefeated during his senior year and won a state championship.[1] He was named as the Oklahoma High School Player of the Year and a Parade All-American in 1972.[1]
College career
During 26 games of the 1973–74 season Adams tied an Oklahoma school record with 21 double-doubles for a season by a Sooner (Garfield Heard, 1969–70 also had 21 in 27 games). That record stood until it was broken by Blake Griffin on February 14, 2009.[4][5]
Adams is one of only three players in the history of the University of Oklahoma men's basketball program to score at least 40 points and get 20 rebounds in a game along with Wayman Tisdale (61 points, 22 rebounds against Texas–San Antonio in 1983) and Blake Griffin (40 points, 23 rebounds against Texas Tech on February 14, 2009).[6][7] After his junior season, Adams declared for hardship status in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and made himself eligible for the 1975 NBA draft.[3]
Adams is one of only four Sooners to have his college jersey (#33) retired by the OU program (Wayman Tisdale (#23), Mookie Blaylock (#10) and Stacey King (#33) are the other three).[8][9]
Professional career
Adams was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the fourth pick of the 1975 NBA draft. Adams was a rookie on a Suns team whose season included an improbable playoff run that took them all the way to the 1976 NBA Finals. In the same year, he was selected to play in the All-Star Game and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award as well as being named to the All-NBA Rookie Team.
On February 22, 1977, Adams recorded a triple-double with 47 points, 18 rebounds and 12 assists against the Buffalo Braves. He is one of five players in NBA history (along with Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Russell Westbrook and Vince Carter) to have as many as 46 points and 16 rebounds in a triple-double performance.[10][11] Furthermore, Adams is one of two players to have recorded multiple games of at least 30 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks in the NBA during their rookie season, along with Victor Wembanyama.[12]
Adams's jersey number (33) was retired by the Suns, but on the signing of free agent Grant Hill, Adams granted him permission to wear his familiar No. 33 with the Suns.[13]
Adams is the franchise leader in games played (988), minutes played (27,203), rebounds (6,937), and steals (1,289);[1] second in field goals made and attempted; third in assists; and fourth in blocks.
In 2000, Adams served as the vice president for facility management for the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.[1]
NBA career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975–76 | Phoenix | 80 | – | 33.2 | .469 | – | .735 | 9.1 | 5.6 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 19.0 |
| 1976–77 | Phoenix | 72 | – | 31.6 | .474 | – | .754 | 9.1 | 4.5 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 18.0 |
| 1977–78 | Phoenix | 70 | – | 27.3 | .485 | – | .730 | 8.1 | 3.2 | 1.2 | .9 | 15.5 |
| 1978–79 | Phoenix | 77 | – | 30.7 | .530 | – | .799 | 9.2 | 4.7 | 1.4 | .8 | 17.8 |
| 1979–80 | Phoenix | 75 | – | 28.9 | .531 | .000 | .797 | 8.1 | 4.3 | 1.4 | .7 | 14.9 |
| 1980–81 | Phoenix | 75 | – | 27.4 | .526 | .000 | .768 | 7.3 | 4.6 | 1.4 | .9 | 14.9 |
| 1981–82 | Phoenix | 79 | 75 | 30.3 | .494 | .000 | .781 | 7.4 | 4.5 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 15.1 |
| 1982–83 | Phoenix | 80 | 75 | 30.6 | .486 | .333 | .829 | 6.9 | 4.7 | 1.4 | .9 | 14.2 |
| 1983–84 | Phoenix | 70 | 13 | 20.7 | .462 | .000 | .825 | 4.6 | 3.1 | 1.0 | .4 | 9.6 |
| 1984–85 | Phoenix | 82 | 69 | 26.0 | .520 | .000 | .883 | 6.1 | 3.8 | 1.4 | .6 | 14.7 |
| 1985–86 | Phoenix | 78 | 45 | 25.7 | .502 | .000 | .783 | 6.1 | 4.2 | 1.3 | .6 | 10.8 |
| 1986–87 | Phoenix | 68 | 40 | 24.9 | .503 | .000 | .788 | 5.0 | 3.3 | .9 | .5 | 11.1 |
| 1987–88 | Phoenix | 82 | 25 | 20.1 | .496 | .500 | .844 | 4.5 | 2.2 | 1.0 | .5 | 7.5 |
| Career | 988 | 342 | 27.5 | .498 | .133 | .788 | 7.0 | 4.1 | 1.3 | .8 | 14.1 | |
| All-Star | 1 | 0 | 11.0 | .500 | – | – | 3.0 | – | – | – | 4.0 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Phoenix | 19 | – | 35.2 | .452 | – | .817 | 10.1 | 5.2 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 17.9 |
| 1978 | Phoenix | 2 | – | 35.5 | .455 | – | 1.000 | 8.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | .5 | 16.0 |
| 1979 | Phoenix | 12 | – | 31.0 | .475. | – | .710 | 7.5 | 4.4 | .9 | 1.0 | 12.8 |
| 1980 | Phoenix | 8 | – | 31.4 | .566 | – | .895 | 9.6 | 5.8 | .9 | 1.3 | 16.1 |
| 1981 | Phoenix | 7 | – | 31.1 | .450 | – | .714 | 5.9 | 3.7 | .6 | .1 | 10.6 |
| 1982 | Phoenix | 7 | – | 33.3 | .522 | – | .786 | 7.9 | 3.7 | 2.0 | .7 | 16.9 |
| 1983 | Phoenix | 3 | – | 28.0 | .469 | – | .714 | 6.0 | 4.7 | .6 | 1.7 | 11.7 |
| 1984 | Phoenix | 17 | – | 18.4 | .421 | – | .679 | 5.1 | 2.5 | 1.0 | .6 | 8.4 |
| 1985 | Phoenix | 3 | 3 | 26.3 | .500 | – | .833 | 5.7 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 17.0 |
| Career | 78 | – | 29.3 | .473 | – | .766 | 7.5 | 4.1 | 1.1 | .9 | 13.8 | |
Personal life
Adams is married and has two children.[14]
