Kevin Love has lost 30 pounds since his trade to the Cavaliers

Kevin Love has lost 30 pounds since his trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers but he added muscle to stay effective in the paint.

According to Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love, he was “about 30 pounds heavier” when he was playing, and starring, for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In mid-May, Love spoke to GQ‘s Christopher Cason about his fixation on fitness.

As Cason asked Love addressed the “drastic change” in Love’s physique, coming out of UCLA as a husky big man without significant muscle tone. Love says he began his diet regimen even before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers because he was focusing on his longevity but that his dedication to changing his physique came after being traded.

"“It was probably the offseason I got traded (to Cleveland). I knew that we would be doing a lot of running and my style of play would have to change a little bit. I knew that this would be an opportunity to win but that wouldn’t come without sacrifice. Even before then, everything was to build my body and diet to be self-sustaining, and try to manipulate things with longevity being the focus. So I was eating so I could play for 15-20 years and I can decide when I want to retire.”"

Love mentioned that he felt like he was “too skinny” his first year in Cleveland, as it affected his ability to post-up and rebound. Indeed, in his first season, Love had trouble backing opponents down and, at times, seemed like he had to get his hook shot off a little further away from the rim than he ideally would.

That would be true, as Love had a career-low in offensive rebounds (1.9 offensive rebounds per game) and his second-lowest average in defensive rebounds (7.9 rebounds per game) and total rebounds (9.7 rebounds per game). It was his first time since his rookie season when he failed to average a double-double.

He proceeded to average what are now playoff career-lows of 5.5 defensive rebounds and 7.0 total rebounds per game in the postseason.

He only made 30.0 percent of his hook shots (his go-to post move) in the regular season and 25.0 percent in the playoffs. Since the 2010-2011 season, Love has only made less than 47.0 percent of his hook shots once and never made less than 42.0 percent of them according to NBA.com.

He’s been increasing his regular season rebounding averages ever since is first year in Cleveland.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/1/2017.

There have been increases to his rebounding averages in the playoffs too.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/1/2017.

Although he still only made 25.0 percent of his hook shots in the 2016 postseason, he made 58.7 percent of his hook shots in the regular season.

This postseason, he’s made 66.7 percent of his hook shots after making 52.9 percent of them in the regular season.

Love has clearly regaining his effectiveness inside over the last three seasons, averaging a double-double (17.0 points and 10.2 rebounds per game) during his Cleveland stint while still managing to convert 36.6 percent of his three-point attempts (5.8 three-point attempts per game).

Love, who can’t participate in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ wine drinking escapades because his diet plan and relies more on nutritionists than ever, hasn’t just developed the mentality of a champion.

He’s developed the mindset of an athlete who wants to truly impact the game for as long as possible.

Via GQ:

"“For me, it was looking in the mirror and finding that inspiration in how am I going to better myself in order to help my team, help my career – like I mentioned with LeBron and the younger generation – and make sure that I’m doing the right thing as far as healthy living goes.”"

DraftExpress had Love’s weight listed at 255 pounds before the draft.

In losing 30 pounds, he’d be about 225-230 pounds now and he certainly looks it. That’s about the same listed weight for Draymond Green, who is a bit shorter than Love and whose torso is a bit more compact, but looks to be a similar size on-the-court. While sustaining muscle mass has allowed him to regain his effectiveness inside, losing so much weight has allowed him to be quicker moving around the court and a threat to attack opponents off-the-dribble.

Love is now better on both ends of the court than he’s ever been.

He has a better mindset than he ever has.

Minnesota Love morphed into Cleveland Love.

Cleveland Love has morphed into a player Cavs fans all love.

Related Story: The Cavs need 'Minnesota Love' to repeat as champions

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