Kevin Love has been a lightning rod for criticism since the moment he arrived in Cleveland. Every time the Cavs have faltered during his tenure, the same old questions have surfaced about his ability to coexist with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, as well as his general status as one of the league’s top forwards. He’s been painted as the odd man out both on and off the court and been the subject of numerous trade rumors, yet has mostly weathered it all in stride.
And now that the Cavs have a won championship in dramatic fashion by toppling the monolithic Warriors — during which Love held his ground on a crunch-time defensive possession against Steph Curry in Game 7 — he has a strong message for his detractors as his team embarks on their title defense this season. Via Michael Lee of The Vertical:
“I don’t think [the criticism will] ever leave,” Love said, “but frankly, I don’t really give [an expletive].”
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“It’ll never be gone. It’s just something that you live with. We have so much hype and media, and the good and the bad surrounding this team, and it just comes with the territory,” Love said. “Trade rumors, I don’t know. We lose a couple of games … I don’t know. I’m here, man, and I plan on being here a long time.”
Having been henpecked relentlessly by the media the past two seasons, you’ll have to forgive him for being a little saucy, and as he pointed out, it probably won’t get much better going forward. The Cavs will be under tremendous pressure once again to repeat, especially with the newly-supercharged Warriors laying in wait.
(Via The Vertical)
