Steven Adams the talk of American sport, as sister Val weighs in on social media

Steven Adams takes the ball during the NBA Finals match between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors. Photo / Getty Images

Oklahoma basketball star Steven Adams can't stay out of the news.

Adams' kick reception in a basketball play-off game has made him the talk of American sport.

Even Adams sister, shot put star Valerie Adams, is in on the act via her Instagram page.

Golden State's Draymond Green kicked the Kiwi in the private parts during game three of the NBA's western conference finals, and started a media and sports fan snowball.

New York-based New Zealand journalist Jack Tame told Radio Sport it was "the leading sports story in the United States today...ESPN sports centre debating back and forth whether Draymond Green deserves to be kicked out."

And America-based New Zealand runner Nick Willis said it had been the number one topic on Detroit sports radio.

The Oklahoman news site promoted the story high on its front page It stated "No question: Draymond Green meant to kick Steven Adams".

The sports section ran a huge headline Kickstart, with the now famous photo of Green's ankle connecting with Adams.

The Oklahoman sports front is perfect. pic.twitter.com/ZsYTXUdW04

— Tyson Alger (@tysonalger) May 23, 2016

Oklahoman columnist Berry Tramel said the press room consensus was that Golden State had gone into immediate damage control. The incident came in for detailed analysis from Tramel.

"Steven Adams is a tall man the distance form the floor to the apex of his legs is more than normal. Green...does not have abnormally long legs. And does not jump that high."

Meanwhile Val Adams has invited her Instagram followers to write a caption to the photo.

Early respondents came up with lines such as "Ouch" and "Green connected with the wrong ball".

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A post shared by Dame Valerie Adams (@valerieadams84)

However the story did not get a huge play in other major news outlets such as the New York Times.

Adams has been at the centre of the series controversies, after a comment following game one when he described his opponents as "quick little monkeys".

Adams apologized for using a phrase that some find racially offensive.