Cavs: Is Larry Nance Jr. right about Kevin Love being a Hall of Famer?

Kevin Love could returning for the Cleveland Cavaliers soon, as he was a pretty active participant in Wednesday’s practice, and even in some live reps, per Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Love, who has been sidelined since Dec. 27 because of a high-grade right calf strain that he aggravated, will have his work cut out for him, though, in joining a unit that has lacked consistency on offense.

Hopefully, his experience and abilities will help the team regain some momentum that has been lost these past few weeks, though.

On another note, recently the It’s Cavalier Podcast tweeted out the question of whether or not Love is worthy of the Hall of Fame eventually. Larry Nance Jr. responded via quote tweet that Kevin Love’s status as a potential Hall of Famer should be a “NO BRAINER.”

Obviously, he wasn’t going to say no being his teammate, but it is an interesting question to think about.

Is Nance right about his Cavs teammate in Love being a Hall of Famer?

Statistically speaking Love should be a fairly valid candidate, with a career average of 18.2 points and 11.1 rebounds per game throughout 12 seasons (albeit this is Year 13 for him). He also has a career average of 37.0 percent from three-point range.

Accolades-wise he makes a good case by being to accomplish some of the league’s most prestigious awards. He even finished sixth in the 2011-2012’s MVP race.

To just go over a few, Kevin has won a championship, been to five All-Star games (two with the Cavaliers), and won the league’s Most Improved Player award while leading the league in rebounds per game in the 2011 season.

Plus, he played a key role in winning two gold medals and became the first player ever to record 2,000 points, 900 rebounds and 100 made three-pointers in a season in 2013-14 with the Minnesota Timberwolves, as h/t a then-Cavs press release.

On paper, he makes a solid case, but Kevin Love is held to a very high standard. Someone who has a career average of 37.0 percent shooting from deep who has averaged a double-double with over 18 points a game would usually be a very respected player in this league.

Unfortunately, Love’s legacy will likely be remembered in two ways. His dominant form in Minnesota where he put up 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds per game in the 2013-2014 season. Then his “struggles” as a Cavalier some next to LeBron James, in which he was under the scrutiny of the world trying to live up to the expectations as LeBron’s teammate.

Kevin’s numbers took a dip when he became the third option on a team, for most of James’ return, factoring in Kyrie Irving, too, as compared to being number 1 back in Minnesota, and in a tough set of circumstances for Love, he never returned to the form he was.

For some reason, we held him to that standard of being a top 10 player for some of that, and/or a player that needed to have those “Minnesota Love” capabilities, and I’m not entirely sure why. There’s always been a glass-half-empty view of his career instead of a glass-half-full look it appears for many.

While he has all the accomplishments you’d want, I believe how he closes out his career will say a lot. I believe he will likely need to end on a better note than being buried under the Cleveland Cavaliers’ struggles.

It’s safe to say the 26 and 13 Love is gone, but Love could go to a contending team and instantly contribute, if he were to be dealt eventually. During this season, given the injuries/still contract, even while the rumors will still be there for Love, that seems unlikely, though, but perhaps in the offseason, a trade could play out.

In any case, Love clearly possesses abilities not many have as a rebounding big who can score from anywhere.

Again, however, injuries have gotten the better of Love, limiting him to only 80 games in the now-three seasons since LeBron has departed to the Los Angeles Lakers.

While staying with a rebuilding team is respectable, getting healthy and leaving a positive impression of himself before he retires will likely be what determines how Love’s career is viewed, and ultimately, whether or not he’ll end up being a Hall of Famer. He could very well have a legitimate case, anyhow.