The first month of the 2018-19 NBA season has not been kind to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Beyond the fact that they entered this year trying to get back to the postseason without LeBron James, the Cavs’ 2-13 record is the worst in the NBA and they were the first team to make a coaching change this year.
In addition to this, the Cavaliers have only had Kevin Love for four games. Love was expected to be the face of the organization after James left for Los Angeles, but the All-Star big man needed surgery on a toe on his left foot earlier this month, which has kept him on the sideline.
We knew that it’d take about six weeks from the time Love got surgery for him to get re-examined, and on Tuesday, we got an update from the man himself. Love and Channing Frye sat down with Rachel Nichols and Richard Jefferson of ESPN, and over the course of their discussion, Love let it be known that he doesn’t think he’ll be back until the start of the new year.
The day before LeBron james returns to Cleveland, we check in with the Cavs – @KevinLove, @Channing_Frye and Richard Jefferson react in real time to JR Smith separating from the team, plus Love (foot) says for the first time that he expects to be back on court after the new year. pic.twitter.com/TyikP3MTYD
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) November 21, 2018
“Like I said, I’ll be in and out of the boot for two more weeks … and then after that, I’ll get an image at four weeks and go from there,” Love said around the 5:15 mark of the video. “There’s just no telling at this time, especially with a weight-bearing injury, what it’s gonna be like moving forward. But I expect to be back sometime after the new year.”
While getting a timetable for his return is good, it’s still really unfortunate that we’re at least a month and a half away from watching Love play basketball again. But if there is a positive, it’s that the Cavaliers can absolutely take their time and wait for Love to be fully healthy for him to return to the floor.
