If it wasn’t already clear that Kevin Love is unhappy with his team, it should be after his latest alleged show of anger toward the man who built it.
The five-time All-Star forward reportedly voiced his dislike of the vibe surrounding the team during Saturday’s shootaround. Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic write that Love expressed “his displeasure and disgust with the organization,” and that his outburst was directed toward general manager Koby Altman.
“Love was screaming in front of teammates and Cavs coaches and front-office members that there was ‘no feel here,’ league sources said.”
The Athletic report adds that Love had been fined or threatened with fines for similar infractions, most recently during the Cavs’ 117-97 loss at Toronto on Dec. 31. A clip of Love angrily demanding the ball from second-year guard Collin Sexton made the social media rounds during Saturday’s 121-106 loss to Oklahoma City.
Love, however, took to Instagram late Saturday night to refute that he has any negative feelings toward his teammates. “A lot of non truths being shared…,” Love wrote, “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.”
The Cavaliers are currently 10-25, 5.5 games back of eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The team won just 19 games last season, its first since LeBron James left Cleveland for the Lakers. Love, however, signed a four-year extension that same offseason, seemingly sending a signal that the Cavaliers intended to remain competitive despite James’ departure.
Instead, the Cavs plummeted and have since built their team around young lottery picks Collin Sexton and Darius Garland. Cleveland currently ranks bottom-five in the league on both offense and defense while Love is averaging 16.6 points, his worst scoring output since his first season with the team, in 2015-16.
