Can the Cleveland Cavaliers rely on Kevin Love?
In his ten seasons, Cleveland Cavaliers star forward Kevin Love has undergone two surgeries and suffered 22 different injuries. Is there any reason to suspect that Love doesn’t tack on a few more this year?
While the All-Star forward has played in 82.6% of his regular season games as a Cavalier, he has also been plagued by a plethora of similar injuries.
These fractures, concussions, and spasms may cause Love to miss significant time on a Cavs team that will desperately need him.
Love is pain
Love’s hands, knee and brain have been the most abused body parts throughout his career.
As a member of the Timberwolves in 2013, he fractured two bones in his shooting hand. After undergoing surgery, Love played in only 18 games that season.
In January of this year, he suffered a fracture on his left hand. In April, he partially tore a ligament in his thumb. Many worried he would be forced to have another hand surgery, but he avoided it.
In 2017, he had surgery on his left knee. This saw him out for about six weeks.
Most recently, Kevin Love missed game seven against the Celtics in the Conference Finals to follow concussion protocol after colliding with Jayson Tatum. Only a few months before, he took an elbow to the face while playing against the Miami Heat. The blow dislodged his front tooth, and he left the game with concussion-like symptoms.
Yikes. pic.twitter.com/dUxYJegjae
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 28, 2018
What this means going forward with Love
Following Kevin Love’s recent four-year/$120-million extension, many have wondered if the Cavs will make the playoffs, if they should be tanking, or what Love will look like in the final year of his deal. But in doing this, they are brushing over the question of Love’s durability.
As the newly appointed “best player” on a team that wants to compete for the playoffs while full of intriguing and misfit talent, he will be relied on to get the most from the roster. By committing to him for the long term, the Cavs bank on Love to remain a double-double threat throughout much of the deal.
In many ways, he is a stabilizing factor to a team that sputtered out of control the last time LeBron left in 2010-11.
However, if he is plagued by more injuries, he may make the Cavs anything but stable.
Reliving the past
Just like the current iteration, the 2011 team also wanted to remain competitive after losing LeBron James. They brought back the second- and third-options from that team in Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison.
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The reasoning was these players had won with LeBron, so why couldn’t they win without LeBron?
As Tony Pluto from the Plain Dealer reported: “If that group proved it could stay around .500 and compete for a playoff spot by the end of 2010, then the Cavs would make a dramatic trade to win now.”
Central to the many reasons this never materialized were injuries. Jamison and Williams were sidelined throughout the season due to nagging pains.
Williams played only 36 games for the Cavs that season before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. He finished the season appearing in only 58 games total. Jamison played only 56 games before being dealt a season-ending finger fracture that March.
As the story goes, these 2010-11 Cavs were a disaster—once believing they could still be contenders, they finished with only 19 wins.
Now
Even in the worst-case scenario, the 2018-19 Cavs likely have better tools to stay afloat in the Eastern conference than before. They have a much better collection of promising talent and are generally healthier.
But to truly remain competitive, the Cavs will need Kevin Love to play more than 70 games. And they will need Love to look like a version of his Timberwolves self in these games if they want to dream of anything higher than a seven- or eight-seed.
Love is not the same player he was back in Minnesota. Since then, has suffered many injuries to body parts that are important to his style of play.
His hand fractures could diminish his touch in the post. His recent knee surgery could begin to slow him down and ruin some of the lift on his jump shot. And for a player who makes much of his money battling in crowds for rebounds, he may suffer another concussion—another head injury could make him less aggressive inside.
The bottom line: Kevin Love is a great player who could certainly live up to his new extension by keeping the team in positions to win. But to do this, he will need to be on the court in top shape. While we should be wondering what a Love-Sexton pick-and-roll will look like, we may be running when we should be walking.
Can we expect Love, as a new first-option, to remain healthy throughout the season and not see any decline following his several injuries and surgeries?
Only time will tell. The answer will be the difference between a season that’s enjoyed, and one that’s endured.