What's (Kevin) Love got to do with it?
A skirmish in Cleveland tells us more about the Cavaliers than their disgruntled star
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Let’s basketball.
Claude Monet, The Cliff at Étretat after the Storm, 1885
Kevin Love’s messy divorce from the Cleveland Cavaliers continues apace. Late last week, Shams Charania reported the Cavaliers fined Love $1,000 after he showed some open anger on the bench during a game against the Raptors. (There’s a funny little anecdote in which Cavs GM Koby Altman threatens to fine Love for letting his anger out around teammates and the public, and Love replies by reminding Altman that he’s plenty rich and can handle the fine.)
Charania reports that Love then blew up on Altman in front of teammates after shootaround on Saturday. Later that day, in a game against the Thunder, Love did this.
Despite the appearance that Love is furious at Collin Sexton for dribbling down the play clock, Love held that his frustration was actually with the play call from Cavaliers rookie coach John Beilein, and Beilein did cop to calling the wrong play given the mismatch Love had in the post. Love made a point to express his brotherhood with Sexton on Instagram, giving us an absolutely perfect Cedi Osman reaction comment — “Sup Kev ! My man [prayer emoji] [flex emoji].” The Cavaliers reportedly won’t discipline Love any further.
This is all pretty bad for the Cavaliers, obviously. But the biggest problem for Cleveland isn’t just having an angry, highly-paid star showing up everyone. It’s that this is all a huge indictment of the ability and capability of the Cavaliers’ front office and coaching staff to develop a team of young, raw talent into a winning program.
Altman, relatively young and green when he took over the Cavaliers front office from David Griffin, gave Love the huge extension with which he can pay whatever fines are threatened against him. Altman (and his boss Dan Gilbert) hired a 66-year-old rookie head coach and gifted him Love, Tristan Thompson, Osman and a cadre of young players who need an absurd amount of NBA seasoning and teaching. What better person to teach them than a career college coach!
Yes, Love signed the big contract extension Cleveland offered after LeBron James left in free agency. That doesn’t make everything that follows his fault, just as it didn’t for Carmelo Anthony in New York. He didn’t extort the team, after all: they offered the extension on top of his existing contract. He would likely have remained under contract through this season (he had a player option) had Cleveland not made the extension offer. But they did, and here we go.
If Love feels that the team is not being served well by its coach (it is not) or front office (the jury is out on Sexton and Darius Garland, the two lottery picks), it is his job as the star of the team and its veteran presence to call it out. In the middle of a possession? Probably not. That’s not a productive way to address issues, and Love seems to have realized that given his apology to the team. He should probably get fined. (He can afford it.) But at least that demonstration did get everyone’s attention on what’s happening in Cleveland.
Love knows exactly what he’s doing. The Cavaliers don’t. They’ve lost control of the season and this narrative, and it could potentially cost them much more than just Kevin Love’s heart and mind if they don’t do something to fix it. Love isn’t the easiest NBA star to deal with — he wears his heart on his beard, and as a big man he requires effective play from his teammates to be effective. But he’s far from the hardest personality in the league, and if Altman and Beilein can’t figure out this situation, just wait until they get an actual difficult one. The early returns are not promising.
Weekend Scores & Highlights
Friday
Hawks 106, Celtics 109: Stellar game from Jaylen Brown. But the game-saving play came from Daniel Theis, who blocked the would-be go-ahead three from Trae Young.
Sixers 108, Rockets 118: Another spectacular performance from James Harden. Clint Capela had 30 and Joel Embiid had 20 and, frankly, that’s not what Philadelphia would expect. Embiid seems bothered.
Pelicans 113, Lakers 123: I don’t know what beef Anthony Davis has with his old team. He requested a trade to the Lakers, and they traded him to the Lakers. But he put up 46 points on 26 shooting possessions. Remember: when the Lakers played in New Orleans back in November, Davis had 41 points.
Saturday
Grizzlies 140, Clippers 114: Total team effort from Memphis in walloping the Clippers in Los Angeles. But can we talk about Ja Morant for a second? Going Sub-Zero on poor Jerome Robinson …
… and finishing a truly absurd lob.
Mike Sykes broke down the Morant highlight reel in detail. Ja is must-see T.V. these days.
Hornets 123, Mavericks 120 (OT): Terrific see-saw game. Big win for Charlotte. I think Devonte’ Graham is an All-Star?
Sunday
Knicks 132, Clippers 135: Really strong showcase game from Marcus Morris, and the Knicks continue to play pretty well since the coaching change. (Here’s Dan Devine on that topic.) But what’s up with L.A.? The Clippers have no business almost losing to New York with one of the two superstars (Paul George) playing full minutes, especially two nights after an embarrassing home loss to Memphis. The Clips were lucky to win this game (the Knicks had several technical fouls), and might need to be concerned about the chill attitude the team seems to have.
Schedule
Nine games on Monday with a pair on NBA TV. All times Eastern. Games are on League Pass unless otherwise noted.
Pacers at Hornets, 7
Nets at Magic, 7
Thunder at Sixers, 7, NBA TV
Celtics at Wizards, 7
Nuggets at Hawks, 7:30
Jazz at Pelicans, 8
Bulls at Mavericks, 8:30
Bucks at Spurs, 8:30
Warriors at Kings, 10, NBA TV — this was supposed to be the season they were finally both good! alas
Links
Zach Lowe’s 10 NBA things column, starring Kristaps Porzingis’s passing, Paul George’s playmaking and Bruce Brown’s verve. And, well, seven more things. Great column, as always.
Andre Drummond trade rumor alert! The Hawks appear to be among the teams interested in trading for Drumm. But Dre says he wants to stay in Detroit. Now that it’s clear he’s on the market, it’ll be interesting to see whether that freezes the rumor mill or sparks it. How many teams really have a need and the assets (including the flexibility to re-sign him this summer)?
More trade rumors: Sam Amick says the Lakers are listening to offer for Kyle Kuzma. Not shopping him, but listening to offers. (In reality, there is no difference.)
Kyrie Irving talked to the media for the first time in more than a month about his shoulder injury. Here’s Anthony Puccio on a lack of candor and transparency from the Nets about … well, everything.
Haley O’Shaughnessy has three potential trade destinations for Kevin Love.
In Power Plays, Lindsay Gibbs encourages fans to let women athletes be jerks, too.
Sean Highkin asks if European basketball’s midseason cup is the right solution for the NBA.
Jimmy Butler has not always had the best reputation as a teammate. Here’s Ricky O’Donnell on how changed that narrative in Miami. More Ricky O on finally seeing the full Michael Porter Jr. experience.
Caitlin Cooper on the Pacers’ problem with long rebounds.
Michael Pina on Khris Middleton as the league’s most important non-superstar.
And finally: Shea Serrano on the singular joy of sports hate.
Thanks for the support. Be excellent to each other.
Hey Tom, congrats on striking out on your own. GMIB is fantastic and I'm thrilled you're keeping it going. As someone who's just getting into art, I'm also digging the addition of artwork at the top. I'm curious where your art knowledge comes from, how you find and select the piece each day, and if there's anything you'd recommend for someone looking to learn more. Cheers!