We are hours away from the greatest two words in sports. Game 7. The Cleveland Cavaliers have pulled it back after being down 3-1. The Golden State Warriors are back at home but they know that it won’t be easy, they underestimated how much of a beast LeBron James still is.
But the Cavs are facing a problem internally. Kevin Love. It has been well documented that he’s been, let’s be honest, trash during the Finals. Richard Jefferson has been more productive than him, but head coach Tyronn Lue is confident that Love will provide a positive impact in Game 7.
“He’s going to have a big game for us tomorrow, I believe,” Tyronn Lue said on Saturday before practice. “It’s all about matchups. It’s all about staying on the floor, being out of foul trouble, and I have no problem with Kevin. He’s going to be fine.”
Someone who hasn’t been a big fan of Love though is LeBron James. Now he would obviously say different, spinning it as him challenging Love, but he knows all this negativity will be futile if they end up winning the chip.
“At the end of the day, if we win, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. We take care of business tomorrow and we put ourselves in position to win. If we come out victorious, I don’t think there’s going to be guys talking over the summer about how bad [Kevin was]… They’re going to say, ‘Kevin Love is a champion.’ That’s all that matters. So no added pressure to Kevin. No added pressure to our team.
“…It doesn’t matter what he shot, doesn’t matter how many minutes he played, doesn’t matter how many rebounds that you all thought he should have got, how many shots he should have had, how aggressive you all thought he should have been. He’ll be sitting home with a ring. So that’s all that matters.“
That is a fact, if he was champion we would simply say “He has a ring.” but short term I don’t think we’ll forget this. Especially if he’s a trade candidate or a free agent, teams will look at these years he’s had with Cleveland and won’t put it in the brightest of lights.
“You know what, we’ve won,” Love said. “We’ve forced it to a Game 7. It has been weird [for me], yeah, coming out of the first game. Got hurt midway through the second game, concussion, couldn’t play. Then came off the bench. [Then] two unbelievable performances in Game 5 [and Game 6]. Then last game I played not even three minutes, picked up three fouls. So it’s been definitely odd.“
And do you know what Kevin Love? You haven’t won yet. I genuinely feel like he’s holding all this backnow so he can focus on the Finals. But when he retires, expect him to write his biography and air out ALL the dirty laundry. Oh it will be great and so will Game 7.
