SA: What role do the other players play in this, on court and off, in blending him into the team’s culture?

RA: Certainly the nature of our group has helped him. Our guys were so supportive of him after the first game, it was really gratifying to watch the response of our team. They want him to do well, as do our coaches. This might be a very short stay here, who knows? But to a man on our coaching staff, and Steve [Kerr] is so great at this, we really want him to get back on his feet and be the player he was -- and some.

I think he understands that about us. Steve is so inclusive and so helpful to a player like DeMarcus. So we’re making progress. It’s going to be a while. He’s really helped us offensively already -- he’s a great passer, he’s been a good quarterback for us too. The other part of his game is growing.

Ron Adams was on Tom Thibodeau's coaching staff in Chicago from 2010-13.

SA: Do you anticipate he’s going to be attacked on pick-and-rolls? He has been a target for that in the past.

RA: Teams had their strategies. But I don’t see that being a huge problem. In the orthodox coverages of the game I think he’s fine. In the new age, when people are coming off shooting threes and that pick is set at the 3-point line, that’s when you have to make some adjustments. I think he’s shown already he’ll be capable of doing that.

SA: You’ve mentioned Steve, a guy you have been mentoring as a coach. Five seasons in, what are your impressions?

RA: What you would expect just from the technical standpoint. He’s become a very good coach on both sides of the ball, and he really enjoys it. Keeps growing in that regard, which is to be expected. Steve is a very bright guy, knows the game well before becoming a coach. He’s such a measured person in how he looks at the game -- he’s a very competitive guy -- and what his long view is.

I mean, we all get better. I’m 71 years old and I’m learning every year. This league … even this year from last year, there’s changes in how the game is played. The mentality. Now we’re into a “not practice too much, make sure your guys are healthy” phase. It’s much more of an emphasis now. So you have stark changes and a lot of subtle ones.

Steve’s philosophy for how a team should operate is, I think, spot-on for the modern age. And I think this has been helpful for DeMarcus, by the way. We don’t want him changing his style as a player, but we do hope, as with all of our guys, that they play the game with joy. Enjoy themselves, enjoy each other, stay mindful of how fortunate they are.

Ron Adams (right) talks with Kevin Durant and coach Steve Kerr in 2016.

SA: As a defensive-focused coach, you’ve been around from the days of hand-checking and intensely physical play to this new era of “freedom of movement” in which defenders dare not even breathe on an opponent.

RA: This year’s been a little frustrating at times. It just means you have to do certain things better. One thing is defensive transition, and even when you transition well, so many people are shooting early threes. We have teams with five 3-point shooters in their lineups and it’s putting a lot of stress on defensive transition. Your team aspects, your help aspects have to be good. How you handle the kinds of penetrations that the new rules are allowing for more. Seemingly the offensive player can do little wrong. We’ve got a lot of pushing off offensively on guys, which seems to be OK at the moment, perhaps until the playoffs come, I don’t know.

These changes, you can adjust to them through your help-side defense, your cell, the kinds of things every team teaches. But when something is taken away from you in a system, you have to put more emphasis on team play.

SA: Do you ever feel picked on, which so many changes favoring offense?

RA: I don’t feel picked on. I look at it as a challenge. It has its frustrations. But I think when all is said and done, the good defensive teams will be there at the end. Whatever the definition of that is. You adjust. The NBA is so fascinating -- there are so many facets to it. … It taxes one but it also broadens one.

SA: You long have been a devotee of switching on defense, to maintain maximum pressure on the ball. Now so many teams do that -- is it gratifying to see them adopt your methods?

RA: When a team is winning and does something, everyone looks at it. You look at the roster and say, “Well, maybe we should build our roster like Team A has.” I must say, some teams have emulated us and emulated us very well, because they’re very tough. [laughs] And they’re loaded with great depth and do things so well.