Basketball: How Steven Adams tries to get under the skin of his Aussie rivals

Joe Ingles and Steven Adams battle for the ball during an NBA encounter. Photo / Getty

The Utah Jazz's Australian players have revealed the transtasman banter that rises to the surface when they meet New Zealand's NBA star Steven Adams.

"When I play him, he'll always say something like 'gidday, mate'... trying to get under our skin," said guard Dante Exum. "He always does it, so I always say 'fush 'n' chups' or something to try and give it back a bit."

Joe Ingles was left with an expensive reminder of one recent encounter with Adams' Oklahoma Thunder.

"He cost me $15 grand about a month ago. Yeah, I got a nice fine for making contact with the nether regions — accidentally, of course.

Inglis insisted he doesn't rise to any baiting from the Kiwi.

"Not really — it's a bit of a bigger picture, I think. Jazz versus Oklahoma or Jazz versus anyone else. So it's just another day.

"He always tries to say some little things to us, but I think he's just jealous of our national team, so..."