Brisbane Bullets’ Josh Adams on NBL return, finding God, and career-threatening injury woes
A JackJumpers hero who wore his heart on his sleeve and loved to play the villain, a more measured Josh Adams is back from major surgery and back in Australia, this time with God on his side.
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Scoring machine Josh Adams was happy playing the villain while leading the Tasmania JackJumpers all the way to the NBL grand final in the club’s debut season.
But after three years – which included a messy break-up with the JackJumpers and twin ankle reconstructions that led the Colorado native on a journey of faith – a more measured Adams believes landing back in Australia with the Brisbane Bullets was all part of God’s plan.
“I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t enjoy being the villain in some of those arenas,” Adams told Code Sports.
“I fed off of that energy and that’s always been the kind of player that I am.
“I wear my heart on my sleeve out there on the court when I’m at my best.
“But now, as you continue to develop as a person, grow as a person and grow as a player, the next step is learning when to let that passion fuel you and when to turn off the faucet, taper it back and start to balance out.
“That’s been an area of growth in life and in basketball.
“Coming in here (to Brisbane) is not about me. It’s not about how many points I can score. It’s about buying into the system and culture and habits they’re building here and elevating the team as a whole, using my 10 years of experience and my experience in Tassie.”
A CAREER THREATENED AND PUTTING TRUST IN GOD
The ankles that helped propel a ridiculous 45-inch vertical leap had begun to nag toward the end of his time in Tassie.
A curse of the regular sprains a basketballer faces.
As the bone spurs and pain progressively worsened during a 2023 stint in Slovenia with Cedevita Olimpija, he’d decided on a minor surgical clean-out during the off-season.
That plan came a little quicker than anticipated, though, when he stood on an opponent’s foot during a game and sprained the opposite ankle.
Surgeons’ investigations exposed more serious issues that threatened Adams career and required major intervention – a bilateral Brostrom procedure to repair and tighten the ligaments in both ankles.
Fourteen months of gruelling rehab with the sport that was essentially his life ripped away was enough to drive anyone nuts.
But, amid the mental and physical struggle, Adams made a recommitment to God and was baptised on May 4.
“I’ve always been faithful, I would say, but in a way, a lukewarm Christian that says, you know, ‘I believe in God, yeah, I’m a Christian’, but never really put my money where my mouth is,” Adams said.
“But, since that day on May 4, not long after my surgeries, it’s been something that I’ve tried to put in the forefront of my mind.
“The biggest lesson that I’ve learned in that faith journey is that being baptised or claiming that I’m a Christian, or answering questions like this from a place of faith is not to elevate myself above people, or say, ‘look at me’, but it’s the recognition that I need him every single second of every single day of my life.
“Without him, I’m going to mess it up – and I still mess it up every day – and that’s why I need him every day.”
It wasn’t the first time Adams’ career had been on the line.
In August 2016, he was involved in a serious car accident and suffered fractured C5 and C6 vertebrae in his cerebral spine. He underwent a spinal fusion and was lucky to be alive, let along playing ball again.
For him, every bounce of the ball is a blessing.
THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF MAKING HISTORY IN TASSIE
The 31-year-old guard was the sparkplug on that JackJumpers team that shocked the country when it reached the grand final in the 2021-22 season.
His 30-point explosion – including a ludicrous fading-out-of-bounds corner three – that vanquished powerhouse Melbourne United in the semi finals is etched in the club’s short history and on NBL highlight reels.
It would have given his coach Justin Schueller – then an assistant on that United team – nightmares, too.
While the Tassie experience ended in some acrimony – a war of words that played out over social media amid claims of Adams asking for more money and coach Scott Roth moving in a different direction – he credits ‘The Island’ for helping him rediscover his love for the game.
“I think that there was a lot of miscommunication, but the part that I choose to focus on was the relationships that I made with guys, the incredible run that we made and what it felt like to put on a jersey like that and win every day,” Adams said.
“The fans were incredible, the people were accepting, they were gracious, forgiving, supportive.
“I hadn’t felt that kind of passion and joy for the game in a long time.
“It hurts. It was great. There’s a lot of different emotions that were attached to it, but I wouldn’t change it.”
MEETING ROCCO AND MAKING AN IMPRESSION
Adams and Brisbane basketball boss Stu Lash hail from Colorado and have crossed paths regularly at a popular hoops spot where they both do a little coaching and mentoring – the Social House.
It was there the import ran into Bullets’ Next Star Rocco Zikarsky and had a chance to work with the future NBA draft pick.
“I was actually just utilising the facility to train, stay in shape and work on my game so I could show teams that I was healthy,” he said.
“They walked in and I was like, ‘oh, what’s up, Stu’ because I had known him from before and then here’s this 7’3” giant walking in in a Brisbane shirt.
“Stu asked me if I’d like to join them and we had a good solid hour-and-a-half workout together.
“What impressed me the most with Rocco was the way he could shoot the ball, his touch, and it’s just his overall feel for the game, the way he moved is really impressive for somebody that size.”
ANSWERING THE CALL
Fast forward to Christmas, the Bullets in urgent need of a quality reinforcement after a torn hamstring ended James Batemon’s season, Lash knew the man to call.
Less than two weeks later, Adams was in Brisbane, suiting up against Sydney a day after a 14-and-a-half-hour long haul from San Francisco.
“Met the team and watched scout and jogged through some plays on Friday and then next day shoot around and just got straight to it,” Adams, who knocked down three triples on his way to 11 points in his Bullets debut, said.
“The only thing that kind of limited me was some calf cramps, which is to be expected but glad I got to get out there and play a little bit with the guys.”
Batemon has carried himself with class throughout a tough start to his NBL career and within 10 minutes of meeting Adams was in his ear.
“JB was talking about the plays and helping me to understand our principles on defence,” he said.
“He’s a hell of a dude to suffer an injury like that and then, someone else comes in to help the team out and he’s still trying to figure out what he can do from the sidelines to lead.”
Adams will be back in action Wednesday night against New Zealand, hoping to help his team to bounce back from three straight losses that has the Bullets’ season teetering on the brink as it attempts to break a playoff drought that extends back to 2019.
For Adams, whether or not that happens, will be in God’s hands.
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