Fractured Cavaliers reportedly accuse Kevin Love of faking illness
Kevin Love complained of being dizzy on Saturday. Maybe that’s a symptom of the Cleveland Cavaliers spinning out of control.
Cleveland lost 148-124 at home to Oklahoma City on Saturday. Love played just three minutes in that game and missed two 3-point attempts, his only two shots of the game.
Love said he wasn’t feeling well and spent most of the first half on the bench. He left the arena and went home after halftime and was not at the team’s practice Sunday.
The team held a team meeting Monday, and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports league sources told him “several players were pushing for the Cavaliers’ management and coaching staff to hold Love accountable for leaving the arena before the end of Saturday’s game, and then missing Sunday’s practice.”
Wojnarowski said the meeting was described as “loud and intense” and included coach Tyronne Lue and general manager Koby Altman.
Love spoke with reporters after Monday’s practice and talked about his illness.
“Just got super dizzy, disoriented, didn’t feel right,” Love said. “Went to the bench and we both agreed that maybe we should just give it a few minutes and then just didn’t feel right at halftime. Put Tristan [Thompson] in to start the second half and went from there.”
Wojarnowski reports that Love explained his situation during the meeting and that seemed to calm some of the emotions.
Cleveland.com reports that just about every player was called out at some point during the meeting. Reports also suggest that some players on the team believe Lue, Altman and team owner Dan Gilbert are to blame for the construction of the current squad.
It’s easy to see why tempers are flaring in Cleveland. The three-time defending Eastern Conference champions are not just losing games, they’re being humiliated more often than not.
The team has lost 10 of its last 14 games. Their average margin of defeat in those games has been nearly 14 points.
Included in that stretch were back-to-back losses to Minnesota and Toronto in which the Cavs lost by 28 and 34 points, respectively.
Defense has been a major problem for Cleveland all season. Opponents are averaging 109.5 points per game against the Cavs this season. Only the 14-win Orlando Magic has allowed more among Eastern Conference teams.
“Hopefully I see us pushing through that here pretty soon,” Love said of the team’s struggles.
Love didn’t offer specifics on what he believes will spark the team’s turnaround, but if he knows the answer to Cleveland’s problems, he should probably share it with his teammates and coaches as soon as possible.
Cleveland is currently in third place in the Eastern Conference, six games behind the Celtics for best record and four behind Toronto.
The Cavs are only four games ahead of eighth-place Philadelphia.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
