Kevin Love’s panic attacks put everything into perspective

Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star Kevin Love just took one of the biggest shots of his life.

LeBron James is right, Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love is now more powerful than he ever was before.

After opening up about his panic attacks in The Player’s Tribune, Love is more than just a symbol of sacrifice or cornerstone player for a championship-contending team, he’s a pillar of strength for those that struggle with various mental and mood disorders on a daily basis.

From Love’s piece:

"“On November 5th, right after halftime against the Hawks, I had a panic attack.It came out of nowhere. I’d never had one before. I didn’t even know if they were real. But it was real — as real as a broken hand or a sprained ankle. Since that day, almost everything about the way I think about my mental health has changed.”"

Love, whose panic attacks caused him to leave a game against the Atlanta Hawks on November 5th and likely led to his early departure against the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 20th.

Put two and two together and the infamous team meeting that was caused by Love leaving the arena as the Cavs faced the Thunder and missing the following day’s practice was surely one in which Love told his teammates about his internal struggles.

Though former Cav Jae Crowder seemed to still be visibly vexed by the matter, refusing to help Love up when he fell on the court against the San Antonio Spurs, his other teammates seemed to have let the meeting go in an instant.

There would have had to be a good meeting on Love’s part because — although fans and a lot of media members would have you believe otherwise — walking out on your team and not showing up to practice the next day is a problem if nobody that actually plays for the team knows what’s going on.

Imagine if DeMarcus Cousins left a game three minutes into the contest and missed the following day’s practice but none of his teammates knew his whereabouts. It would be a big deal.

In terms of the outside world, Love is insulated from criticism because of his character and offensive prowess but it doesn’t really work that way in a locker room.

In any case, now that Love has made his panic attacks a matter of public record, everything has been put in perspective.

Not only did Love have a good reason for the events that led to the team meeting but he has one that allows the team to rally around him and further his standing as a team leader.

Furthermore, Love’s issues are mental and emotional rather than physical and it’s still a real issue but the concerns are now different.

There are only a few physical health issues that result in constant dizzy spells and almost all of them are serious. Doing my own research, I realized that Love likely was keeping his issues under wraps because they were serious. I just never knew the severity of the issue. Nor did most people outside of the organization.

However, Love’s panic attacks could occur again and there’s no telling when. In his Player’s Tribune piece, he disclosed having a therapist but didn’t mention taking any kind of prescribed medication for the panic attacks.

That means that when Love is back from his injury, there should be a contingency plan for the Cavaliers should Love suffer from an attack (all the time they have had to play without Love only helps their knowledge of how to deal with a sudden absence) and a realization that he could leave a game in the postseason because of those attacks.

In fact, coming back just before the postseason after missing two months and trying to make it to the NBA Finals is a high-pressure situation for a player who has the Cleveland Cavaliers second-highest points per game average (17.9) and its highest rebound per game average (9.4).

So, maybe Love should be expected to miss a game or have an out-of-character performance when he returns.

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Whatever happens on-the-court for Love, this is his arrival as a leader of the team. It’s his arrival as the leader of a community. It takes real strength to bare your flaws and to embrace and learn from them for both yourself and the greater good.