Fansided

Can We Please Chill With The Kevin Love Hate?

Kevin Love has been the subject of a lot of hate these days, but are we being too hard on a guy who just doesn’t have the role we thought he’d have?

This may be the only season Kevin Love spends in Cleveland with the Cavaliers, and it may be the fans that end up running him off thanks to their expectations and reactions to his game. It’s not that Kevin Love isn’t deserving of some heat for the way he’s played this season but we may be being a little too rough on him.

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Love came to Cleveland as a the tortured superstar who had finally escaped the basketball boneyard of Minnesota to join rank with LeBron James. It was a dream scenario, but its one that hasn’t played out like we all thought it might when the trade happened.

It’s been a rough season for Love, who has had to get defensive about his role with the team and has been forced into a corner of sorts. Most of this has to do with the perception that he was going to be a savior for the Cavaliers and ended up being a burden in the starting lineup.

The expectation that [Love] should be a first option player in a third option role is just asking too much of him.

Love is the third wheel, but he’s expected to be a star like he was in Minnesota. These are massively different situations but they’re being lumped together as though they’re the exact same. Love was the first option in Minnesota and was, for all intents and purposes, the only option the Timberwolves had.

That’s not to say his superstar numbers were inflated, but the fact that he was the team’s only option needs to be taken into account when his expectations for his role with the Cavaliers are fully laid out.

Kevin Love is the third option on the Cavaliers, and he’s still averaging over 16-points per game. Try going to another NBA team in the league and finding a player who is the third option and averaging that many points. You can save yourself the trouble, because you won’t.

We need to have high expectation for Kevin Love, but we can’t make the mistake of having those expectations be too high. That’s causing friction between Love, the Cavaliers and fans which could lead to a break up between the parties. Love wants the max, and the expectation that he should be a first option player in a third option role is just asking too much of him.

Love needs to play up to par, but we may all need to put our expectations in check.

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