Stunned Rockets forward dubs Steven Adams 'caveman' over NBA veteran's diet regime

The Houston Rockets, currently the No. 2 team in the Western Conference, have a good mix of young studs and grizzled vets. Their 25-12 record indicates that they've become comfortable with each other, on and off the court.

In fact, third-year player Tari Eason has become so comfortable with widely respected big man Steven Adams that he's able to do some teasing on social media — all because of Adams' dietary choices:

In a Tweet posted on Saturday, Eason showed the world a glimpse of an Adams meal:

"Just a bowl of ground beef fruit and toast no jelly," wrote Eason in the caption. "Caveman."

When the 6-foot-8 Eason first entered the league three years ago, there's no way that he would have mustered the strength to call Adams a "caveman." At the time, Adams was still patrolling the paint for the smashmouth Memphis Grizzlies.

As he sat out the 2023-24 season to recover from PCL surgery, Adams was traded to the Rockets as part of a deal that included Victor Oladipo and draft picks. The 6-foot-11 Kiwi has played 24 games for the Rockets this season, and he's recently been ramping up his productivity as an enforcer in the paint.

"That's who he's been his whole career," Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said after Adams pulled down nine rebounds against the LA Lakers on Jan. 5. "[He's an] offensive rebounder, a great one...a deterrent in the paint, a big body down there."

Adams getting back in shape is bad news for opposing centers, and the 11-year vet understands that there's a lot of hard work to do in order to regain peak form. If that means sticking to a strict diet, the big man is clearly up for it.

Steven Adams getting "back to normal" after knee surgery

If anything, Adams sets a great example for the up-and-coming frontcourt studs on the Rockets roster. Among these bigs, Alperen Sengun is shining brightest this season, leading the team in rebounds with 10.5 per game to go along with 19.3 points and 5.0 assists.

Given his strong individual numbers and the team's impressive performance overall, Sengun went ahead and gave high praise to the Rockets on a Jan. 10 appearance on NBA TV (Start at 5:30):

"We are one of the most aggressive and toughest teams in the league right now," said Sengun. ... "We've been working a lot, and we've come a long way to get here."

Adams getting back to his best after right knee surgery only helps add to the team's toughness.

"It's back to normal," Adams said last week, per Rockets Wire. "It's been progressing more and more. We've been keeping an eye on it, and my comfort with the team has just been progressing, as we planned."

If the Rockets maintain their aggressive identity, as Sengun said, they'll be in prime position to secure homecourt advantage come playoff time.