Kevin Love has been the Cavaliers' whipping boy ever since he arrived in Cleveland. It seemed like anytime the Cavs hit a bump in the road Love was first to receive blame. When it looked as if Cleveland would fall short in the NBA Finals and be forced to retool in the summer, Love's name was always the one coming up in trade rumors.
Kevin Love found redemption in Game 7
The former All-Star has had a maligned stay in Cleveland, but he came through in a big way in Game 7.
Some of that was warranted. Love's defense has always been poor and he's made a myriad of weird comments, the latest of which came during these very finals when he described the way LeBron James stepped over Draymond Green in Game 4 as "a form of disrespect."
But there was more to Love's fall from borderline MVP candidate to spot-up shooter. It's tough being the third banana on a championship team, being the one asked to sacrifice the most. The last player to go through what Love has over the past two years was Chris Bosh, and he's acknowledged on multiple occasions how difficult it was to make that transition.
And so while we applaud LeBron James for fulfilling his promise, and revel in J.R. Smith’s heartfelt confessional, it’s also worth taking some time out to acknowledge the sacrifices Kevin Love made along the way.
“Well, I never got really trapped by the dogma and living with the results of other people’s thinking,” Love said to reporters following the Cavaliers’ Game 7 win when asked if he viewed his championship as a sort of vindication. “I just continue to fight through it, and knew that tonight I just had to have one great game. I was going to go out and be aggressive on both sides of the ball as far as rebounding the basketball. I was just told to rise above it, especially by my teammates. We knew what all of us were capable of.”
Love came through in a big way in Game 7, though. He scored nine points and pulled down 14 rebounds. The Cavaliers outscored the Warriors by 19 points in the 30 minutes he was on the floor, the highest mark on the team. He even stymied Stephen Curry on a crucial late-game possession.
Love averaged 14.7 points during the Cavaliers's playoff run and shot an impressive 41 percent from deep. He struggled during the Finals -- 8.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 26 percent from deep -- and missed a game due to a concussion. But it's his impressive Game 7 performance that Cleveland will remember for years to come.
“Yeah, you talk about vindication, this is the main reason that I came here and wanted to come here because I knew we’d have a great shot to win a title,” Love said. “Last year I felt like it was taken away from me, especially with the injury. This year got to have my first real playoff run, and it ended the way I wanted it to and we all wanted it to.”
What Love’s future in Cleveland looks like is yet to be determined. Maybe this game and title puts an end to all the trade rumors. Maybe it doesn’t. What we know, though, is Love will always be linked to this historic Cavaliers championship run. The term “loser” can no longer be used when describing his game.
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