The 20-year-old went on to rub salt into the wound with a second slap: "Hell, yeah."
That, incidentally, was in response to the question on whether he was going to be playing for the Thunder in the northern hemisphere summer league during the off season.
The left/right crimson cheeks were his parting shots at the Oklahoma media scrum.
My sincere apologies to Caroline Wozniacki and the lonely hearts club but it's time Basketball NZ's Iain Potter got in touch with the Danish professional tennis player to share notes and then follow it up with a pint of bitter stout with her ex-fiance, Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy.
Potter, it seems, is in a dark and lonely place over Adams' snub.
I'm not sure where he's exactly coming from but I definitely get it.
I mean what part of "no" does the man not understand?
You've missed the train, mate. In fact, you have been waiting at the wrong platform all that time.
" ... He [Adams] gave an off-the-cuff answer to a question as he was leaving the press conference but have not yet had any official communication from Steven or his management to this effect," Potter has said in a Basketball NZ release, keeping his fingers crossed on the rookie's availability.
"We have understood the need for patience while Steven was involved in the NBA play-offs and the importance on focusing 100 per cent on that role with the OKC.
"We have made every attempt to keep in regular contact with him and his management team, expecting that post the play-offs we would be able to talk directly to him about the Tall Blacks' programme."
Frankly, why didn't Basketball NZ send a delegation to the States well before the dust settled on Oklahoma City?
For goodness' sake, this bloke, all 2.13m of him, will be the biggest basketball billboard New Zealand is likely to have for at least the next decade.
Who's responsible for marketing and promotion here?
A couple of suits, armed with Androids, tablets and apps, should have been knocking down Adams' door like dodgy Indian bookmakers.
No doubt patriotism will almost always take a hiding these days when juxtaposed with dollars but winners never look across the court at the opposition in awe, no matter how heavy the TAB favouritism on the Final Four weekend.
If you're not convinced then ask Zerofees Southland Sharks coach Paul Henare, who spearheaded the Southerners to their first Bartercard National Basketball League (NBL) title in Napier last year.
Sure, Adams will always have other priorities.
It's safe to say the Rotorua-born centre has been making all the right noises about everything Kiwiana since former Wellington Saints assistant coach Kenny McFadden took him under his wing all the way to NBA stardom.
He loves his pies, loves his world champion shot-putting sister, Valerie Adams, and the winter weather in Oklahoma, in a sort of way, "sucks".
The cheque-book lingo is a stronger dialect (about 3 million big ones) but don't underestimate the resilience of tugging on the Kiwi heart strings.
IMS Payroll Hawks coach Tab Baldwin has already stated it's a mistake not to release Adams who opposition big men have labelled "The Seven Foot Pest", "Stone Cold Steven Adams" or "The White Kendrick Perkins" (Thunder teammate, a 208cm, 122kg brute who slips on the knuckle duster with aplomb).
Baldwin has a point in that Vucinic and Co will hand him a ministerial portfolio that will enable him to be a "pre-eminent player", not just a "role player" who comes off the bench to defend and rebound for marquee Thunder teammates - akin to a backbencher at the Beehive in Wellington.
When Vucinic names his first roster at the conclusion of the Final Four in the capital he'll have some exciting young talent.
Regrettably none of them will have the marketing value of Adams even though he still has "a ton more to learn".
What bugs me, though, is I can't recall seeing Adams in action even off the bench for the Pero Cameron-coached Saints when they won the NBL title in 2011, beating the Hawks 106-97 in the grand final, or any other game for that matter.
How does someone find himself on the NBA platform without much fuss on an NBL one first?
Suffice it to say Tall Blacks have a better chance of a date with Adams than Wozniacki has with McIlroy anytime soon.
