[7] Adams was the first member to enter the competition, held in Del Mar, California, taking second place in the Junior Men's Freestyle.

[4] Adams' ability to turn near-disasters into never-before-seen feats of style and agility was termed "an athletic stream-of-consciousness" by the 2001 documentary about the team, Dogtown and Z-Boys.

[6] Much of Adams' and the rest of the Zephyr team's fame is due to photo-journalist and writer Craig Stecyk's "Dogtown Chronicles" in the 1975 relaunch of Skateboarder Magazine.

The series of magazine articles chronicled the adventures of the Z-Boys, who rode empty swimming pools in Southern California over a two-year period, laying the foundation for vertical skateboarding.

[11] During his skateboarding career, Adams was sponsored by Hurley, Nixon, Osiris Shoes, Z-Flex, Tracker Trucks, Vercelli Surfboards, Carver Racks, Abec 11 wheels and Black Flys.

Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan noted his contribution to the film: "Dogtown is at its dramatic best with mini-profiles of its two biggest names, Adams and Tony Alva.

The Adams segment especially, which shows the most naturally gifted of the Z-Boys regretful about the bad choices he made in his life, provides the kind of thoughtful introspection this film could have used a lot more of.

[18][19] Adams was portrayed by Emile Hirsch in the 2005 dramatized feature-film account of the Z-Boys origins, Lords of Dogtown, written by Peralta and directed by Catherine Hardwicke.

[8] Nonetheless, in November 2005, he was arrested and sentenced to four years, after being caught on a wiretap acting as a go-between for a buyer and seller of crystal methamphetamine.

[27][28][29] A memorial skate session was held for Adams at the Venice Beach Skatepark by fellow skateboarders Tony Alva and Christian Hosoi.

[31] Shortly after his death, there was another on the surface of Venice Skatepark's bowl, featuring Adams alongside fellow Dogtown skater, the late Shogo Kubo, which has since been removed.