The Cavs are getting ready to take on the Celtics in their first-round series starting Saturday, and LeBron James was asked for his MVP vote. We already know he’d vote for himself, but instead of reiterating his choice, he named Kevin Love…while displaying what had to have been a coy smile:
LeBron James was asked who he would vote on for MVP and he said Kevin Love, with a smile.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) April 15, 2015
The joke stems from Love’s public MVP backing of his former UCLA Bruin teammate, Russell Westbrook. LeBron said he didn’t care, but it was peculiar Love didn’t just name James even if he actually thought Russ deserved it since he had to have known it would turn into a story. Also, Love’s appearance on the Dan Patrick show, where he made the Westbrook choice, coincided with Westbrook’s triple-double bonanza, so it’s not like he was wrong for giving Russ the nod over his teammate. It’s just the nature of the media and NBA these days to couch all controversial comments in a smattering of caveats to protect against this sort of overreaction.
The two Cavs forwards aren’t best friends, but Love has told anyone who asks that he’d like to return to Cleveland if he opts out this summer and re-sign.
It’s unclear why there’s been so much reported strife this year about a possible rift between the two stars. Whether it’s a symptom of two players who just don’t get along, or the trumped-up detritus that comes with being on a team everyone wants to know about, they just haven’t been on the same page. In private, it might be a different story, but the media spotlight is strong enough you would think if they were laughing about all this in the locker room, that story would trickle out, too. It hasn’t.
This weekend, Love will be appearing in the first playoff series of his career, and so will Kyrie Irving. All the early-season nonsense between ‘Bron and Love feels like BS, so why then did LeBron even make the remark to a reporter who was sure to tweet or write about it? Can’t the two of them just enjoy their outlet connections and leave each other’s names out of the press?
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If there is an undercurrent of disdain between the two teammates, they’re not doing a very good hiding it. Maybe both should take some advice from Paul Pierce, who successfully kept his non-relationship with Ray Allen and Deron Williams on the DL until revealing the truth of the matter to the estimable Jackie MacMullen.
