Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star big man Kevin Love wants to clear the air about his relationship with Cavs second-year point guard Collin Sexton.
Love was visibly frustrated during the Cavs’ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder and some thought he was upset with Sexton.
That wasn’t the case, as Love says he was upset with Cavs head coach John Beilein and not Sexton, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com:
“I knew it immediately. Looking back and seeing it, I was a s—head. It looks really bad,” Love said. “Everybody thought it was directed at Collin. It was directed at coach. Coach was saying, ‘Swing 4, swing 4’ and I’m like, ‘We’re in the bonus, it’s the last shot and Chris Paul is going to foul me or I’m going to get to the free throw line or I’m going to score.’ So I ran out there, launched the ball to Cedi and I was really, really frustrated.”
Later that night, Love went on social media and addressed the budding belief that he’s a bad teammate. The first picture in that Instagram post showed him with his arm around Sexton.
“No. I don’t hate Collin,” Love added. “You know Collin and I’s relationship. That’s so dumb. Is there times where he has poor decision-making and bad shots? Of course! By the way, it’s the same thing with me and same thing with Tristan not kicking the f—— ball out when he’s in the post and there’s five guys on him. You just have to keep correcting it. Collin’s 21 years old. So many guys are losing sight of that. DG (Darius Garland), he’s 19. KP (Kevin Porter Jr.) is 19. These guys are learning. This is where I can’t relate because I didn’t have the ball in my hands at that age. I was more like, get it off the glass and hit transition 3s, get to the free throw line, rebound, but he has the ball in his hands and has to make decisions.”
Love’s time with the Cavs appears to be coming to an end soon. However, we have to see if the Cavs can find a trade partner for Love first.
A five-time All-Star and NBA champion, Kevin Love is averaging 16.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game this season for the Cavs. He’s shooting 44.7 percent from the field, 37.6 percent from beyond the arc and 84.9 percent from the free-throw line.
The Cavs are 10-26 and will miss the playoffs for the second straight season.