Kevin Love and LeBron James are no longer teammates on a daily basis but few NBA players have spent more time with James over the past few years. As a result of that interaction and continued friendship, Love offers intriguing perspective into the mind of James and, of course, the biggest story of the 2018 offseason is the best player in the universe electing to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.
As part of a sit-down interview with ESPN, Love was asked whether he had insight into what transpired and he shed some light on the situation.
I had somewhat of an idea. I had, like everybody, weighed the options and had an idea of where he might go. I knew it was probably between Cleveland and Los Angeles. I think he’s always looking for a different challenge. He’s always wondering what’s next, and it feels like sometimes he’s playing chess and everybody else is playing checkers.
He’s very, very mentally strong, knows the game of basketball so well, and sometimes there’s something he sees that other people don’t. So I think making it to four straight finals, him helping us the most in us winning a championship in 2016, I think he might’ve been looking for something different and a change — next chapter for him — and here we are.
Nothing Love says is particularly “new” or overly revelatory but, in the same breath, the notion that James may have been seeking a “next chapter” of sorts makes a ton of sense. Obviously, Love isn’t alone in thinking that James’ final decision was always going to come down to the Cavs and Lakers but it is wise to mention that only James could fully know the rationale behind his final choice.
Love is now the unquestioned franchise player for the Cavs and it will be interesting to see how that franchise progresses after James departed for the second time. Still, there will undoubtedly be even more eyes on LeBron during his next step and, even in Los Angeles, it is easy to see James “playing chess” while the vast majority of the world is taking part in a game similar to checkers.
(Via For The Win)
