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Theo Pinson: You were on two championship teams. Lakers and Cavs. Which team was better? We go head-to-head. Which team win? JR Smith: Cavs. Not even close. Pinson: Not close?! JR Smith: I say it's not close because like with Lakers we got an older Rajon Rondo, got obviously an older LeBron James, an older Anthony Davis… In Cleveland you had Kyrie Irving. First of all, K, nobody on that Lakers team checking him. Nobody. Kevin Love… (…) AD was definitely gonna cook, but T the way Double T (Tristan Thompson) play though, I don't know. I don't know. I can't say he was going to cook because Double T like he knows how to get off the f*cking skin though. Like he got that little dirty Canadian play.
Erik Slater: The Jazz ruled out Lauri Markkanen (Rest), Jusuf Nurkic (Illness), and Kevin Love (Illness) tonight vs. the Nets. Cody Williams (Illness) is questionable.
Will Hardy: When I talked to Kevin Love this summer, he did have a lot of questions and rightfully so. He's earned the right to really try to understand what's going on here and how he fit. And I told Kevin, ‘I can't promise you minutes, but I can promise you a role and that we need you, because we have a lot of young players that are going through the early part of their career trying to find their footing and you have a ton of experience, and you've had good experiences, you've had bad experiences, but you also have what they want, which is longevity in the NBA. You've won at the highest level and you can say things to them that I can't. Like you can speak from experiences that I can't.’ And Kevin has been very honest with our team, he's been very honest with me in terms of moments that he's struggled in his career and why, what he's learned from those things, the perspective now that he has. And I think those things are helping all of us grow. Believe me, Kevin has an impact on me just like he has on our players.
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The Cavs, sources told ESPN, had already discussed internally a deal to send star forward Kevin Love to the Pacers for Paul George before the talented combo guard made it clear he wanted out, and Cleveland initially tried to wait out Irving's demand.
Utah Jazz: UPDATED Jazz Injury Report: *OUT - Jusuf Nurkic (illness) *AVAILABLE - Kevin Love (left knee; contusion) *AVAILABLE - Lauri Markkanen (return to competition reconditioning)
Andy Larsen: Jusuf Nurkic has been downgraded to doubtful tomorrow vs. Heat due to illness… but Lauri Markkanen has been upgraded to questionable. Oh, and Kevin Love is out with a knee contusion.
In 2024, former Utah Jazz player Ricky Rubio announced that he was retiring from the game of basketball, choosing to focus on his mental health. Love, who had been teammates with Rubio in Minnesota for three years, and then again later in Cleveland for another year, reached out to Rubio because he needed to get something off his chest. “One of my biggest regrets ... is that I wish I was a better teammate for him and other guys, but really for him, because he really cared,” Love said. “I actually apologized. It had haunted me that I’d never said that.”
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That’s why now, after having been in the NBA for 18 years, Love feels the need to apologize to players like Rubio. Because by Love’s estimation, Rubio understood the value of a being a good teammate. “He radiated goodness,” Love says. “He radiated team, and he built guys up.”
When Love describes the kind of player he was, early in his career with the Timberwolves, he is his harshest critic. “I was a bad teammate,” he says plainly. “I was selfish, angry, bitter, entitled, arrogant, I had bad habits. But more than anything, I was a bad teammate.”
In order to be the best version of himself on a basketball court, in order to be a champion, he would have to accept that he wasn’t the best. He would have to be humbled and he would have to learn that being a good teammate is the most important thing you can do. “I did have a father that was very strong-willed and hard on me, in particular, in how I went about my business,” Love said. “He had a real, (expletive) you attitude, and I think I had to adopt that in order to get to the level I wanted to in this league. What faltered was my awareness of actually giving to the team and what that meant.”
Kevin Love: I didn't know what to expect when I got here, but I've been very pleasantly surprised from everything, from ownership, and Ryan Smith to the front office to the coaching staff, players all the way through. It's been a blessing in my 18th year to be a part of this team and some place, I mean, you never know where you're going to end up. I did not expect to be traded but as far as a landing spot goes and just saying, yeah, so many people are saying ‘Oh what if it doesn't work out? What if it doesn't work out?’ I'm like ‘What if it does?’, right? And I think just adding value whether I'm playing or not is something that's given me a lot of happiness and a lot of joy this late in my career. And I think that has allowed me to see a lot of the good and what this team has been able to bring and move forward.
