NBA star Steven Adams keeping low profile

Oklahoma City Thunder player Steven Adams is in Rotorua this week.

NBA star Steven Adams is back in Rotorua spending a much-earned break with his family.

The 20-year-old flew in on Monday night after spending a week in Wellington. He is back in New Zealand on holiday after his Oklahoma City Thunder team failed to make the NBA finals.

He has told media he will return to the United States to play with the Thunder during the Summer League rather than take part in New Zealand Tall Blacks' World Cup campaign in Europe.

A Rotorua family member said yesterday that Adams had requested privacy during his visit and declined interviews as "he wasn't here for very long and they wanted to spend time with him instead".

Adams has been a crowd and media favourite in Oklahoma with his strong on-court play and dry sense of humour. Rotorua locals contacted the Rotorua Daily Post yesterday after spotting the 2.13m tall basketballer around town.

Adams had previously said it was hard to go under the radar in New Zealand being so tall.

"Yeah, incognito, no chance. I actually bought a facemask. I don't know if you've seen it, I tweeted it once," he said.

"It's like a balaclava ... I might wear that around. But it's going to be ridiculous, probably, because I like to be out a lot. I got a lot of restaurants I like to eat at, smash out some food. It's going to be quite annoying."

Always a fan of tweeting food, his account in the last week has featured Bluff oysters and breakfast spread at a Wellington cafe and him getting a new tattoo.