Team owners crack me up sometimes. Remember how Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert reacted when LeBron James fled Cleveland for Miami? Now James is back in Cleveland and Gilbert has since apologized for his (over)reaction. Since James signed back with the Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Kevin Love asked to be traded to the Cavs, officially was this past week, and now Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is speaking ill of Love.
Somewhat ironically, Taylor said this not too long ago about his former All-Star: "Kevin and I have always had a good relationship. Kevin has always said I want to win. I said I want to win, too, stay here and let's do it together."
As soon as Love was traded to Cleveland, however, Taylor's comments became less positive, as he made the following remarks on ESPN Radio 1500 AM in the Twin Cities on Tuesday:
- "I think where maybe he got away with some stuff not playing defense on our team, I'm not sure that's how it's going to work in Cleveland. I would guess they're going to ask him to play more defense and he's foul prone."
- "I question Kevin if this is going to be the best deal for him because I think he's going to be the third player on the team. I don't think he's going to get a lot of credit if they do really well. I think he'll get the blame if they don't do well. He's around a couple guys that are awful good."
- "If they sign him (Love) to a five-year contract like they're thinking about, that's a big contract on a guy that's had some times he's missed games."
Yet, even though the owner questioned Love's defense, he also said this:
"The only thing I still have a question mark about is health. I had that concern then (when they negotiated his previous contract) and I still have that concern. I think Cleveland should have that concern too."
First of all, while Love's defense has been criticized before, over six seasons with the Timberwolves, he played in 364 out of a possible 492 regular season games (74.0%). The only year he had serious injury problems was in the 2012-2013 season, when he only played in 18 games for the season. Outside of that season, Love played in 84.4% of the Timberwolves games since he joined the team in the 2008-2009 season. If he continues at that clip, he'll play in approximately 69 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers this coming season. Kyrie Irving, meanwhile, has played in 73.6% of Cleveland's games in the three years he's been with the team. He's one of the two "awful good" players to whom Mr. Taylor was referring when suggesting that Love will be the team's third option offensively, and whom he didn't say had a history of health problems (even though he's played in a smaller percentage of his team's games due to ailments than Love has over his career).
The most ridiculous part of Taylor's rant is when he said that Love won't get much credit if the Cavaliers win and will receive the blame if they lose.
There was a debate on the ESPN show Around the Horn yesterday regarding who faced the most pressure in Cleveland for the upcoming season: LeBron James, Kevin Love, or Kyrie Irving. To me, it's not a black-and-white issue. All three players face different kinds of pressure. Kevin Love's pressure is personal. He's always put up great numbers, but never won while in Minnesota. So, the debate surrounding him was, "If Kevin Love played for a better team, would he help them be more successful? Is he a winner when placed in the right environment or is he just not a leader and someone you can expect to build a winning team around?" This will be Love's first season in Cleveland. There isn't pressure on him to put the Cavaliers over the top en route to a championship. The Miami Heat didn't win the title their first year after adding LeBron James and Chris Bosh to the roster which already had Dwayne Wade on it. So, in my opinion, there isn't a great deal of pressure on Love in his first year with the team. The pressure he'll likely feel will be internalized, and if and when he aids the Cavs in making and advancing in the playoffs, he can add that to his resume and feel more confident moving forward, regardless of the team he plays for.
Kyrie Irving will be the constant of the three stars, so he'll feel a different kind of pressure than either Love or James. The guy is the team's main distributor on offense, so he'll face the pressure of getting in sync with his new teammates, building chemistry, and finding a good rhythm and flow to the offense. He's put up some pretty solid numbers in his first three years with the team, yet Cleveland posted the worst record in the NBA in that time-frame. This will be an entirely different team for Irving to work with this year and of all the Cavs' starters, he may feel the most pressure when it comes to making the proper adjustments to place the team's success over personal numbers.
Of the three star players, though, we'd have to be kidding ourselves if we didn't place the most pressure on the shoulders of LeBron James. The city of Cleveland despised him when he left for Miami. He became the best player in the league while in Miami and won two championships there. The main reason why Kevin Love asked to be traded to Cleveland was because of James signing with the Cavaliers. If James didn't sign with Cleveland, I can guarantee Love wouldn't be there right now. So, while most Cavaliers fans have tentatively welcomed James back, they still haven't forgotten when he left the city (or how he did it), and won't be satisfied unless he brings a title to Cleveland. The pressure isn't there to win the first year back with the team, but it will definitely be there in years 2 and 3. James led the Cavs to a championship appearance one time in all his years there, and on paper, this will be the best group of guys he's played with while with the team. He's the leader, the MVP, the two-time champion, the man that made this team possible, and while both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving will face some pressures while with the team, neither one will feel the kind of pressure LeBron James will. With leadership comes responsibility. It's not like if the Chicago Bulls ever faltered, Michael Jordan said, "Well, you know, I think it's only fair to blame Scottie Pippen or Horace Grant for this team's woes." No, whether it was his fault or not, he took the blame. That's what leaders do, and fairly or not, that's what LeBron James will do back in Cleveland.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11415027/glen-taylor-minnesota-timberwolves-says-cleveland-cavaliers-not-best-bet-kevin-love
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/loveke01.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/irvinky01.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01.html
Somewhat ironically, Taylor said this not too long ago about his former All-Star: "Kevin and I have always had a good relationship. Kevin has always said I want to win. I said I want to win, too, stay here and let's do it together."
As soon as Love was traded to Cleveland, however, Taylor's comments became less positive, as he made the following remarks on ESPN Radio 1500 AM in the Twin Cities on Tuesday:
- "I think where maybe he got away with some stuff not playing defense on our team, I'm not sure that's how it's going to work in Cleveland. I would guess they're going to ask him to play more defense and he's foul prone."
- "I question Kevin if this is going to be the best deal for him because I think he's going to be the third player on the team. I don't think he's going to get a lot of credit if they do really well. I think he'll get the blame if they don't do well. He's around a couple guys that are awful good."
- "If they sign him (Love) to a five-year contract like they're thinking about, that's a big contract on a guy that's had some times he's missed games."
Yet, even though the owner questioned Love's defense, he also said this:
"The only thing I still have a question mark about is health. I had that concern then (when they negotiated his previous contract) and I still have that concern. I think Cleveland should have that concern too."
First of all, while Love's defense has been criticized before, over six seasons with the Timberwolves, he played in 364 out of a possible 492 regular season games (74.0%). The only year he had serious injury problems was in the 2012-2013 season, when he only played in 18 games for the season. Outside of that season, Love played in 84.4% of the Timberwolves games since he joined the team in the 2008-2009 season. If he continues at that clip, he'll play in approximately 69 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers this coming season. Kyrie Irving, meanwhile, has played in 73.6% of Cleveland's games in the three years he's been with the team. He's one of the two "awful good" players to whom Mr. Taylor was referring when suggesting that Love will be the team's third option offensively, and whom he didn't say had a history of health problems (even though he's played in a smaller percentage of his team's games due to ailments than Love has over his career).
The most ridiculous part of Taylor's rant is when he said that Love won't get much credit if the Cavaliers win and will receive the blame if they lose.
There was a debate on the ESPN show Around the Horn yesterday regarding who faced the most pressure in Cleveland for the upcoming season: LeBron James, Kevin Love, or Kyrie Irving. To me, it's not a black-and-white issue. All three players face different kinds of pressure. Kevin Love's pressure is personal. He's always put up great numbers, but never won while in Minnesota. So, the debate surrounding him was, "If Kevin Love played for a better team, would he help them be more successful? Is he a winner when placed in the right environment or is he just not a leader and someone you can expect to build a winning team around?" This will be Love's first season in Cleveland. There isn't pressure on him to put the Cavaliers over the top en route to a championship. The Miami Heat didn't win the title their first year after adding LeBron James and Chris Bosh to the roster which already had Dwayne Wade on it. So, in my opinion, there isn't a great deal of pressure on Love in his first year with the team. The pressure he'll likely feel will be internalized, and if and when he aids the Cavs in making and advancing in the playoffs, he can add that to his resume and feel more confident moving forward, regardless of the team he plays for.
Kyrie Irving will be the constant of the three stars, so he'll feel a different kind of pressure than either Love or James. The guy is the team's main distributor on offense, so he'll face the pressure of getting in sync with his new teammates, building chemistry, and finding a good rhythm and flow to the offense. He's put up some pretty solid numbers in his first three years with the team, yet Cleveland posted the worst record in the NBA in that time-frame. This will be an entirely different team for Irving to work with this year and of all the Cavs' starters, he may feel the most pressure when it comes to making the proper adjustments to place the team's success over personal numbers.
Of the three star players, though, we'd have to be kidding ourselves if we didn't place the most pressure on the shoulders of LeBron James. The city of Cleveland despised him when he left for Miami. He became the best player in the league while in Miami and won two championships there. The main reason why Kevin Love asked to be traded to Cleveland was because of James signing with the Cavaliers. If James didn't sign with Cleveland, I can guarantee Love wouldn't be there right now. So, while most Cavaliers fans have tentatively welcomed James back, they still haven't forgotten when he left the city (or how he did it), and won't be satisfied unless he brings a title to Cleveland. The pressure isn't there to win the first year back with the team, but it will definitely be there in years 2 and 3. James led the Cavs to a championship appearance one time in all his years there, and on paper, this will be the best group of guys he's played with while with the team. He's the leader, the MVP, the two-time champion, the man that made this team possible, and while both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving will face some pressures while with the team, neither one will feel the kind of pressure LeBron James will. With leadership comes responsibility. It's not like if the Chicago Bulls ever faltered, Michael Jordan said, "Well, you know, I think it's only fair to blame Scottie Pippen or Horace Grant for this team's woes." No, whether it was his fault or not, he took the blame. That's what leaders do, and fairly or not, that's what LeBron James will do back in Cleveland.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11415027/glen-taylor-minnesota-timberwolves-says-cleveland-cavaliers-not-best-bet-kevin-love
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/loveke01.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/irvinky01.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01.html
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