Love ‘loves’ teammates, but admits frustration

CLEVELAND Cavaliers forward Kevin Love allowed simmering frustration to show in Saturday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In one instance in the second quarter, Love had Thunder point guard Chris Paul pinned behind him in post position. But the Cavaliers swung the ball without throwing it to Love initially. When he got the ball, Love kicked it to Cedi Osman for a 3-pointer.

Love was frustrated with point guard Collin Sexton for not entering the ball to the post at his first opportunity.

“We were in the bonus, and Chris Paul was on me,” Love recalled, “so I felt swing it to me and try to throw it in the post, see if they double-team and get a good shot out of that. That’s not what we did, and yeah, I was frustrated.”

The on-court display comes on the heels of a report by The Athletic that Love was fined for an outburst aimed at general manager Koby Altman earlier in the day Saturday at the team’s shootaround. Per the report, Love was fined $1,000 for an outburst on the bench during Tuesday’s loss at Toronto.

Love posted a picture Saturday night to his Instagram account showing him and Sexton on the court together with the message: “A lot of non truths being shared ... but I’ve learned that we live in a world where people remember accusations and not rebuttals. Let them paint whatever picture they want. Fact is — I love my teammates.”

Love is in the second year of a four-year, US$120 million contract. According to multiple reports, the Cavaliers have recently increased their effort to deal Love. At 10-25, the Cavaliers are in the early stages of a rebuild in life without Lebron James. James left in free agency to join the Los Angeles Lakers two years ago.