Kiwi NBA star Steven Adams has said he is in "a good spot" to return to the court for the Memphis Grizzlies season after a troublesome knee injury.
Adams missed the Grizzlies' NBA Playoffs run last season after hurting his knee in January and while at the time he was only expected to miss a few weeks, the injury continued to flare up and eventually ended his season.
"I definitely got blue-balled, mate, for sure," Adams said during his NBA Media Day interviews.
"I thought I was all good and then we checked with the docs and there were just some setbacks and that's the nature of the injury."
Having spent the offseason nursing his knee though, Memphis Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman said Adams is getting close to a full return for his 11th NBA season.
"Steven is also in a good spot," Kleiman said. "Steven is cleared for live play here in camp.
"We will be conservative ramping him up. Any time you have a case where he just literally hasn't played, we're going to be cautious and make sure we're taking it one step at a time.
"But Steven is cleared and in a good place."
The injury also ruled Adams out of a potential debut with the Tall Blacks at this year's FIBA World Cup after having "positive" discussions with coach Pero Cameron.
Adams told reporters he only watched one game of the World Cup - the match between the USA and New Zealand.
"I didn't watch, I don't know if you can tell, I watched one game and that was against New Zealand and you beat us so I was like, 'screw USA'," Adams said.
"I didn't watch again!"
Adams also spent time travelling, returning to New Zealand to spend time with family while also venturing to China and Europe.
Back in the US now, Adams and Memphis face a tough start to the season with star player Ja Morant banned for 25 games after a second instance in which he showed a firearm in a social media post in a matter of months.
Morant was not available for Media Day but the NBA confirmed he would be allowed to travel and practice with the team during his suspension.
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