For Utah Jazz veteran Kevin Love, returning to the Cleveland Cavs is an ideal storybook ending for the 18-year forward’s career. In the twilight years of his NBA career, Love has been open about a potential return to the Cavs.
Love won’t say when he plans to end his career, calling it a “year-by-year” process. However, he would love to end his career with the Cavs, he said, per Esports Insider’s D.J. Siddiqi.
“I don’t want to make any assumptions — they’ve been so good to me here already with Utah, and if this is it, then I’m very happy with that,” Love said. “Obviously, Cleveland is a near and dear place to me. But regardless if that happened or not, I’m always going to go back to Cleveland. They were so good to me for my eight-and-a-half seasons there, and continue to be.”
Love helped the Cavs secure their first and only NBA title, and his nine seasons in Cleveland are the longest tenure of his career.
“But how long I’ll play, I’m not exactly sure. I think I’m going to continue to love the game. The business side obviously can be up and down, or leave a bad taste in your mouth,” Love added. “But again, so long as I keep loving it and a team has a role for me and I can add value, I’ll be here.”
Love is on a one-year deal, worth $4.1 million for the Jazz this season.
Kevin Love reveals Cavs career-ending intentions
Rob Gray-Imagn Images
Jazz forward Kevin Love isn’t ruling out a return to the Cavs. In a reflective interview about his career, Love says heading back to The Land would be special at this stage of his nearly 20-year NBA career, he said, per TMZ.com.
“It would mean a lot,” Love said. “There’s just so many names up there that it would truly be an honor to go up there. If I were ever to make it to the Hall of Fame, I would go in as a Cavalier, and I think I would take a lot of pride in that.”
In the meantime, between now and his eventual retirement, Love pondered about his post-NBA life.
“I think I have to consider it a lot more than, maybe, five years ago, right?” Love said. “You get to the late ‘teens or you get to this stage in your career, you start considering your athletic mortality and where you’re at, and what you’re gonna consider doing next.”
Love is averaging 4.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 14.1 minutes per game for the Jazz this season.
