Bulls assistant Adams gets credit for Thunder's rapid rise

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma City columnist traced the origin of the Thunder's rapid rise into a budding NBA powerhouse to the day Ron Adams joined the team's coaching staff midway through the 2008-09 season.

Of course, drafting Kevin Durant was the start of everything good for this franchise. But just 22 months ago, the Thunder was wallowing with a dismal 3-29 record.

“He was actually here before that,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said of Adams' arrival. “We were at our low point with Ron.”

Well, coach, you may be right, but the official transaction of Adams leaving the Bulls' front office to join Oklahoma City was dated December 31, 2008, while the Thunder was indeed 3-29.

But the date and record hardly matter. The real story is how Adams made a positive contribution to the Thunder, then opted for a return to Chicago this summer. Adams is back on the Bulls' bench assisting longtime friend Tom Thibodeau.

Adams first joined the Bulls as an assistant under Bill Cartwright and stayed through the Scott Skiles and Jim Boylan eras. When Vinny Del Negro arrived, Adams moved to a front-office role, then left to join the Thunder a few months later.

Adams' family stayed in Chicago and his daughter Hayley is now a high school senior.

“To have him around for the year-and-a-half was great,” Brooks said before the season opener. “I made a lifelong friend of Ron and his family. I wished him the best. He was in a tough situation. I probably would have done the same thing. It's always about family.”

During the disappointing 2007-08 campaign, when Skiles was fired on Christmas Eve, then-rookie Joakim Noah was suspended after a verbal tirade in practice directed at Adams. It wasn't the sort of notoriety he'd want, but nothing went well during that 33-win season.

Besides Noah, Luol Deng is the only remaining Bulls player who remembers Adams' first stint with the team.

“We missed him,” Deng said. “Ron is a very honest guy, he just says it how he sees it. At times, you get into it with him, but when he's not there, you realize it. I thought we missed him and realized how much he helped us.”