Cavs’ Love mans up to mental-health problems in essay
CLEVELAND — Suffering for years in silence, Kevin Love has opened up about his struggles with mental health.
The Cavs forward writes in an essay for the Players’ Tribune that he had a panic attack during a game this season and he has spent most of his life afraid to accept there was something wrong with him.
“For 29 years, I thought about mental health as someone else’s problem,” he said.
Love says he was stricken with anxiety Nov. 5 in a home game against Atlanta. He was under family stress and wasn’t sleeping well. After being winded while playing 15 minutes in the first half, he felt his heart racing and couldn’t catch his breath during a timeout in the third quarter.
He was taken to the Cleveland Clinic, but tests didn’t reveal anything abnormal.
Although he did not mention it in his essay, titled “Everyone Is Going Through Something,” Love again left a Jan. 20 game against Oklahoma City under similar circumstances. He also missed the team’s practice the following day. Those absences prompted the now infamous heated team meeting in which former teammate Isaiah Thomas and others questioned why Love had been excused. The exchange led to tense days around the Cavs, who rebuilt their roster by trading Thomas and four other players before the deadline.
Love’s father, Stan, also played in the NBA. Kevin says he always struggled with the stigma of an athlete who shows weakness.
“Growing up, you figure out really quickly how a boy is supposed to act.You learn what it takes to ‘be a man.’ It’s like a playbook: Be strong. Don’t talk about your feelings. Get through it on your own. So for 29 years of my life, I followed that playbook.”
The Cavs encouraged Love to see a therapist and he gets counselling a few times a month when the team is at home.
Love said he drew courage to go public with his issues after Toronto All-Star DeMar DeRozan’s recently acknowledged he has had bouts of depression. After playing against DeRozan for years, Love said he would have never guessed one of the game’s best players was having problems similar to his own.
Love’s revelations promoted praise from teammate LeBron James, who posted on Twitter: “You’re even more powerful now than ever before @kevinlove!!! Salute and respect brother!”
Love ended his piece by encouraging anyone dealing with inner struggle to seek help.