Really? That was the hardest thing he’s ever had to do? His life must have been full of extremely easy choices then lmao.
archaelleon
Mar 9, 2023 MIAMI — When Kevin Love took the floor for his pregame warmup, he made his way to center court to catch up with some of his former teammates. He and Darius Garland did their choreographed handshake that they used to do in Cleveland and hugged each other. Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell both ran over to see Love.
He also caught up with assistant coaches Dan Geriot, JJ Outlaw, Antonio Lang and other members of the coaching staff. Then at halftime, when players took the court to warm up for the second half, Love talked with Raul Neto and Dean Wade. Cedi Osman also ran over, and the two embraced.
Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers was the first time Love saw his former team since his contract buyout over the All-Star break. The Cavs beat the Heat 104-100 in the first game of a two-game series this week.
“Definitely seeing those guys on the other side of the court warming up was definitely different,” Love said in the Miami locker room postgame. “I have so much love for everybody down there — so much love. I saw Derek Millender sitting there and Steve Spiro sitting there on the bench, the entire coaching staff, players, stepped on Robin’s foot on purpose down there. There’s so much love and respect for how great of a team they are. Obviously, would have loved to win tonight, but any night we’re not playing them, I’m rooting for them.”
Love wears another team name on the front of his jersey and a different number, No. 42, on the back. Even though he was told No. 0 was available, he wanted that number to represent his time in Cleveland. It will one day hang in the rafters, as president of basketball operations Koby Altman said following the announcement of the buyout. So, he turned to a number he wore in high school, college and his first six years in the league with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and was inspired by the four-time NBA All-Star Connie Hawkins.
But he knows those relationships will stay constant. He’s still a part of a team group chat, and if someone sends a message, Love sends a funny remark back.
“Darius and I will be in touch, be friends, be together until forever,” Love said. “We’re always connected; we’re always going to be family. Evan, I’m still going to get to try to talk more. Ice was funny out there. I told him, I said, ‘You didn’t know I was going to take that charge?’’ Then when he got me, he tipped the outlet pass, and they got it back. He was like, ‘You didn’t know I was going to get that? I know your game.’ Just little stuff like that.
“Cedi, saw him today. Everybody came over and said hello before the game, which was nice. I had a couple funny moments with J.A. during the game, which will always be our thing going back and forth. But again, so much love for those guys. It’s hard to see them on that other sideline.”
Love’s decision on the buyout with the Cavs did not come lightly. He spent eight and a half seasons in Cleveland, helping to bring their first NBA title to the city. He was the last main pillar standing from that title team and saw the Cavs through the rebuild. He served as a veteran for a young, inexperienced team and took a step back to a smaller role to allow opportunities for their young players.
“Professionally, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do without question. I think you guys know how much I love Cleveland and Ohio. All the fans there have always supported me and the team,” Love said. “I go back to Brecksville, and I’m like, ‘We did that. We really did that.’ That was incredibly hard to do after eight and a half seasons, but I think more than anything, I felt like I could still play, and I know I can still play. I didn’t shoot the ball great from 3, but there’s been so many things that I think I’m impacting the team here in a major way. I felt like I could still play, and sometimes you have to give yourself up and sacrifice.”
Love played in 41 games with Cleveland this season, shooting 38.9 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from 3. He dealt with a thumb injury that affected his game. But he was still a vital veteran and voice for a young, growing team. His teammates affectionately called him “Grandpa” but valued his presence.
Love eventually fell out of the rotation a few weeks before the All-Star break. The last game he played for the Cavs was on Jan. 24 against the New York Knicks. As the Cavs started to get guys like Ricky Rubio and Wade back from injury, they had to work them into the rotation and find minutes.
(Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) “I think it was a really tough decision for him to take me out of the lineup,” Love said. “I think ultimately, they wanted to go young and stick with those guys and get Dean and Cedi and Ricky minutes – especially Ricky and Dean especially getting back from injury – so they want to get the guys more minutes. But just natural frustration is you want to be out there, you want to have those conversations in the locker room, you want to be in those timeouts, those type of situations, and I think that all came so fast for me. There wasn’t any prospect of me going back out there and playing that; I wanted that. I was hungry for that. I was foaming at the mouth for that, but those were, again, really tough conversations, but those are ones that I’m grateful that they had with me so I was able to find something else and find a place where I could be happy and play.”
Pissflaps69
If that was the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do, I’d say you’ve had a charmed life.
Pissflaps69
If that was the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do, I’d say you’ve had a charmed life.
LUNI_TUNZ
It’s hard to see Kevin in a Miami uniform… particularly one as horrendous as that.
melodicprophet
Look, I love Love. But I don’t get how he’s an “automatic” hall of famer and jersey retiree. I think there’s a fair debate to have and plenty of time to have it.
polishlastnames
Hands down, no questions asked, I’ll fight ya for it – best Kevin Love moment of his time here was defending Curry on that last possession in Game 7. I’ve never seen a players feet (let alone Kevin fucking Love) move so fast in my life. I have to even consider that Curry was thrown off enough by how fast Kevin was moving to miss that shot.
God speed brother. We’ll miss ya, and thanks for the all memories. Lil Kev will always be #1 in our hearts 🫡
12 Comments
Bro… What if you just played hard for US? THE LAND…
You put in minimal effort here, got benched, and then waited till after the trade deadline to force a buyout.
Thanks for everything you did here, and I support your trip to the HOF… but seriously STFU
The Hardest Road Out of Town
To get free money? He didn’t pay us any money back right lol?
Love is such a baby sometimes
u/PaywallGhost
Non paywall link: https://paywallghost.com/774790
Really? That was the hardest thing he’s ever had to do? His life must have been full of extremely easy choices then lmao.
Mar 9, 2023
MIAMI — When Kevin Love took the floor for his pregame warmup, he made his way to center court to catch up with some of his former teammates. He and Darius Garland did their choreographed handshake that they used to do in Cleveland and hugged each other. Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell both ran over to see Love.
He also caught up with assistant coaches Dan Geriot, JJ Outlaw, Antonio Lang and other members of the coaching staff. Then at halftime, when players took the court to warm up for the second half, Love talked with Raul Neto and Dean Wade. Cedi Osman also ran over, and the two embraced.
Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers was the first time Love saw his former team since his contract buyout over the All-Star break. The Cavs beat the Heat 104-100 in the first game of a two-game series this week.
“Definitely seeing those guys on the other side of the court warming up was definitely different,” Love said in the Miami locker room postgame. “I have so much love for everybody down there — so much love. I saw Derek Millender sitting there and Steve Spiro sitting there on the bench, the entire coaching staff, players, stepped on Robin’s foot on purpose down there. There’s so much love and respect for how great of a team they are. Obviously, would have loved to win tonight, but any night we’re not playing them, I’m rooting for them.”
Love wears another team name on the front of his jersey and a different number, No. 42, on the back. Even though he was told No. 0 was available, he wanted that number to represent his time in Cleveland. It will one day hang in the rafters, as president of basketball operations Koby Altman said following the announcement of the buyout. So, he turned to a number he wore in high school, college and his first six years in the league with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and was inspired by the four-time NBA All-Star Connie Hawkins.
But he knows those relationships will stay constant. He’s still a part of a team group chat, and if someone sends a message, Love sends a funny remark back.
“Darius and I will be in touch, be friends, be together until forever,” Love said. “We’re always connected; we’re always going to be family. Evan, I’m still going to get to try to talk more. Ice was funny out there. I told him, I said, ‘You didn’t know I was going to take that charge?’’ Then when he got me, he tipped the outlet pass, and they got it back. He was like, ‘You didn’t know I was going to get that? I know your game.’ Just little stuff like that.
“Cedi, saw him today. Everybody came over and said hello before the game, which was nice. I had a couple funny moments with J.A. during the game, which will always be our thing going back and forth. But again, so much love for those guys. It’s hard to see them on that other sideline.”
Love’s decision on the buyout with the Cavs did not come lightly. He spent eight and a half seasons in Cleveland, helping to bring their first NBA title to the city. He was the last main pillar standing from that title team and saw the Cavs through the rebuild. He served as a veteran for a young, inexperienced team and took a step back to a smaller role to allow opportunities for their young players.
“Professionally, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do without question. I think you guys know how much I love Cleveland and Ohio. All the fans there have always supported me and the team,” Love said. “I go back to Brecksville, and I’m like, ‘We did that. We really did that.’ That was incredibly hard to do after eight and a half seasons, but I think more than anything, I felt like I could still play, and I know I can still play. I didn’t shoot the ball great from 3, but there’s been so many things that I think I’m impacting the team here in a major way. I felt like I could still play, and sometimes you have to give yourself up and sacrifice.”
Love played in 41 games with Cleveland this season, shooting 38.9 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from 3. He dealt with a thumb injury that affected his game. But he was still a vital veteran and voice for a young, growing team. His teammates affectionately called him “Grandpa” but valued his presence.
Love eventually fell out of the rotation a few weeks before the All-Star break. The last game he played for the Cavs was on Jan. 24 against the New York Knicks. As the Cavs started to get guys like Ricky Rubio and Wade back from injury, they had to work them into the rotation and find minutes.
(Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
“I think it was a really tough decision for him to take me out of the lineup,” Love said. “I think ultimately, they wanted to go young and stick with those guys and get Dean and Cedi and Ricky minutes – especially Ricky and Dean especially getting back from injury – so they want to get the guys more minutes. But just natural frustration is you want to be out there, you want to have those conversations in the locker room, you want to be in those timeouts, those type of situations, and I think that all came so fast for me. There wasn’t any prospect of me going back out there and playing that; I wanted that. I was hungry for that. I was foaming at the mouth for that, but those were, again, really tough conversations, but those are ones that I’m grateful that they had with me so I was able to find something else and find a place where I could be happy and play.”
If that was the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do, I’d say you’ve had a charmed life.
If that was the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do, I’d say you’ve had a charmed life.
It’s hard to see Kevin in a Miami uniform… particularly one as horrendous as that.
Look, I love Love. But I don’t get how he’s an “automatic” hall of famer and jersey retiree. I think there’s a fair debate to have and plenty of time to have it.
Hands down, no questions asked, I’ll fight ya for it – best Kevin Love moment of his time here was defending Curry on that last possession in Game 7. I’ve never seen a players feet (let alone Kevin fucking Love) move so fast in my life. I have to even consider that Curry was thrown off enough by how fast Kevin was moving to miss that shot.
God speed brother. We’ll miss ya, and thanks for the all memories. Lil Kev will always be #1 in our hearts 🫡