You thought Kyle Kuzma has it bad. Think about the private hell Kevin Love went through!
Has anyone noticed that LeBron James LOVES throwing full-court passes to Anthony Davis that leads to dunks? If you thought LeBron invented it, this is a sad day for NBA purists everywhere. Step your documentary game up quickly.
That pass was invented by Wes Unseld and Kevin Love brought it into the millennial era.
When LeBron James left Miami, Love was specifically targeted by LeBron form “Big 3 Northwest” with Kyrie Irving. Now Kevin Love was a franchise player like Chris Bosh in Minnesota.
His stats were so ridiculous the TNT crew would have heated arguments about his All-Star status because the Timberwolves barely broke 25 wins. Even then he was at the time the best power forward in the NBA. In Cleveland, he went from star to being the goat (Not the Alex Caruso reference!).
The Cleveland Cavaliers dealt their two previous number one picks that the Cavs were building their future on to appease James. Sound familiar here?
Then, the Cavs signed Love to a max deal that at times they were rumored to trade (Does any of this sound familiar?) over the next three years. At the lowest point, he was rumored to be traded for, wait for it, Ryan Anderson!
Brian Windhorst discussed on Business Insider Love’s four years with LeBron as difficult but how Kevin saw it in his opinion.
"“There have been so many days and nights where Kevin Love has walked out of a building feeling beleaguered or beaten down either directly because of LeBron” or indirectly. “I have to give Kevin a real major hat tip for being a professional and being an adult about it,” Windhorst said. “He has always seen the big picture … He has always maintained that this is all worth it, that playing in these late games — I mean, this is a guy who played for six years, whatever it was, never sniffed the playoffs. He’s like: ‘This is where I’m at right now. This is the charge for playing with [James].'”"
Let’s check out the rewards for Kevin Love’s adjustments.
Four Finals appearances and one championship.
Do you think Kevin Love misses those days of playing with LeBron? Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words.
https://twitter.com/YahooSportsNBA/status/1213653167679762432
Believe it or not, Kyle Kuzma can gain inspiration from the other team across the hall, they have two players that Kuzma can learn from.