The notion of Kevin Love, NBA superstar, should not feel foreign. Love came to the Cleveland Cavaliers three years ago as a verifiable leading man, a three-time All-Star and a player for whom the Cavaliers had to surrender consecutive first overall draft picks, just for starters. His presence alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving gave the Cavaliers the air of a super-team, a great player who would transform them from a project to an instant title contender.
The Cavaliers rose to the top of the league, but for Love the championship journey reduced his personal status. He struggled to fit in, absorbed blame when the Cavaliers slumped and even found himself, in the last year’s playoffs, coming off the bench. It became easy to forget just how dominant he had been as the Minnesota Timberwolves’ centerpiece.
For two years, as they advanced to two NBA Finals and won a title last season, the Cavaliers used Love as an accessory. This season, as they have built on their title with a machine-like 7-1 start, they are using him like a star.
In his third season in Cleveland, Love is again playing like – and being deployed as – a superstar. He has averaged 21 points on 15.4 shots per game, up from 16 points on 12.7 shots per game over his first two years in Cleveland. His usage rate – a measure of how often a player factors into his team’s offensive possessions – has increased from 23.4 percent last season to 27 percent this season, much closer to the 29-percent load he carried in Minnesota.
Love’s reemergence as an NBA force has been a reflection of several factors. None more significant than Coach Tyronn Lue’s dedication to recasting Love as an offensive fulcrum. When Lue took over for David Blatt midway through last season, Lue wanted to make better use of Love’s interior play, rather than sticking him outside the three-point line to stretch the court.
With a full preseason as the coach, Lue has been able to reconfigure the Cavaliers’ offense to feature Love in post-ups. In Minnesota, Love became one of the most dominant low-post scorers in the NBA, but Blatt never figured out how to use his skills. Lue has made sure to call plays and actions that make Love the focal point.
Last year, 17.3 percent of Love’s shots came within three feet of the basket, and 44.9 came from beyond the three-point line. This season, Love has taken 25.2 percent of his shots from inside three feet, and just 31.5 percent from three-point range.
“He’s throwing out different lineups, trying to get me more touches closer to the basket,” Love said. “And also, just knowing where we stand with this team, each and every player. He paints a good picture of what guys’ roles are and what we want to get accomplished. I give a lot of credit to him and the coaching staff, just knowing each and every one of his guys and having a better routine.”
For the first time, Love also entered a season with the Cavaliers in the right physical condition to score in the post. After the Cavaliers traded for him the summer before the 2014-15 season, Love lost bulk in order to fit into what he believed would be an up-tempo offense.
“I didn’t really look like myself,” Love said. Even when he had opportunities, defenders he once bullied could overpower him.
Love’s first season in Cleveland ended when he separated his shoulder fighting for a rebound in the first round of the playoffs against the Boston Celtics. The injury prevented him from lifting weights and adding muscle in the offseason and even through the first months of the 2015-16 season. This year, Love finally entered a season at his typical strength and preferred playing weight.
“It’s night and day,” Love said. “Having a full offseason, even after having gone all the way to the Finals, my body feels good.”
Love also feels more comfort among his teammates, much of which derived from one play. The Cavaliers made history with their comeback from a three-games-to-one deficit in the Finals, and the finale could be distilled into three plays: The Block, The Shot and The Stop.
At Cleveland’s banner raising on opening night, three highlights from the video montage drew the loudest cheers: James’s chase-down block on Andre Iguodala, Irving’s game-winning three-pointer and Love’s improbable, game-winning stop on Steph Curry. For Love, the defensive stop won over skeptical fans and earned complete trust from teammates.
“I don’t think one play was defining of my career, so to speak,” Love said. “But I think it was obviously a huge play on a huge stage at the biggest moment.”
From the start, Love’s switch from Minnesota to Cleveland made him operate under a harsher glare. It may have taken two years, but things have finally happened as expected. The Cavaliers have always been a contender with Love, but for the first time, Love is playing like a star for the Cavaliers.
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