When the Cleveland Cavaliers and Kevin Love agreed to a buyout during last season, there was no ill will. The team and fans will forever appreciate the nine years the five-time All-Star gave them and the championship he helped deliver to one of the most tortured cities in the history of sports. Love, himself, still holds the Cavs in special regard and could consider a potential reunion.
“I am definitely open to coming back and retiring there,” he said, via ClutchPoints- originally reported by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor. Love re-signed with the Miami Heat in the offseason after serving as a key reserve in their 2023 Eastern Conference Championship feat. They fell short in the NBA Finals, but the 35-year-old proved that he can still get the job done.
It would be a poetic end to Love’s career if he were to return to the Cavs in his final season, or even on a ceremonial one-day contract. While he was at his most dominant with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft cemented his legacy by being a core piece of a title team. He joined LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in overcoming an incomprehensible 3-1 deficit to the 73-win Golden State Warriors in the 2015-16 Finals.
Despite suffering a concussion and subsequently struggling in the series, Kevin Love played tremendous defense on superstar Steph Curry in the last minute of Game 7 to clinch the franchise’s first championship. When LeBron James and Kyrie Irving eventually left, he remained with the team for a few more seasons.
It is only natural that such an enduring bond between player and organization is revisited. For right now, though, Love is not thinking about retirement. He is determined to enjoy one more improbable postseason run with the Heat.