- published: 25 Jul 2014
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Alvan Leigh Adams (born July 19, 1954 in Lawrence, Kansas) is a retired American professional basketball player. After starring at the University of Oklahoma, the 6'9" (2.06 m) power forward/center was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 4th pick of the 1975 NBA Draft. Adams was a rookie on a Suns team whose season included an improbable playoff run that took them all the way to the 1976 NBA Finals. In the same year, he was selected to play in the All-Star Game and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award as well as being named to the All-NBA Rookie Team. Adams spent his entire career with the Suns and retired in 1988 as the second all-time Suns scorer with 13,910 career points.
During 26 games of the 1973–74 season Adams tied an Oklahoma school record with 21 double-doubles for a season by a Sooner (Garfield Heard, 1969–70 also had 21 in 27 games). That record stood until it was broken by Blake Griffin on February 14, 2009.
Adams is one of only three players in the history of the University of Oklahoma men's basketball program to score at least 40 points and get 20 rebounds in a game along with Wayman Tisdale (61 points, 22 rebounds against Texas–San Antonio in 1983) and Blake Griffin (40 points, 23 rebounds against Texas Tech on February 14, 2009).