LeBron James Explains Difficulty of Boxing Out Rockets' Steven Adams

He'd certainly know.

Dec 5, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets center Steven Adams (12) controls the ball as Phoenix Suns guard Collin Gillespie (12) defends during the first half at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Steven Adams is a mammoth on the offensive glass. The Houston Rockets reserve center is automatic.

Almost like NFL Hall of Famer Calvin “Megatron” Johnson in the red zone.

It seems hyperbolic but Adams is nabbing one in every four offensive rebounds. 

It's really unprecedented. 

Truly.

The Rockets have ranked first in offensive rebounds for the last two seasons. And second chance points.

Which is the literal definition of a cheat code. More offensive rebounds leads to more opportunities to score.

And Adams is difficult to box out.

Just ask Los Angeles Lakers legendary forward LeBron James, the NBA’s all-time scoring leader and arguably greatest player in league history (or second-best player behind only Michael Jordan).

James spoke on the Mind the Game podcast with Hall of Fame guard and former MVP Steve Nash and mentioned the difficulty (and near impossible task) of boxing out Adams and limiting his offensive rebounds.

“You know as a competitor, you know as an opposing team that when you play Houston, one of the main focuses is Steven Adams. You need the whole team, plus the bench and the coaching staff and your security team to box him out.

Oh my God, he’s ridiculously strong. You can’t box him out with two people. You need 3 or 4 guys around him.”

Adams leads the league in offensive rebounds at 4.8 nabs per contest, which isn’t even his career-high, nor his first time leading the league in offensive boards.

The Rockets center’s career-high Is 5.1 offensive boards, which he did twice.

Nash noted how Adams’ penchant for drawing two (or three) defenders to try and neutralize him can clear a pathway for other Rockets players to grab offensive rebounds.

The Rockets initially rolled out the double-big lineup with Adams and Alperen Sengun both starting big men simultaneously, which drew a steady amount of national headlines. But Adams has only started five games thus far.

Obviously not an indictment on his play. But the Rockets need to keep him relatively healthy and fresh.

Especially since they anticipate making a deep postseason run and playoff push. They currently rank fourth in the Western Conference.

And Adams has averaged 21.8 minutes per contest, while averaging 6.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 53.3 percent from the field and 4.8 offensive grabs per game.