Recuperating from shoulder surgery, Kevin Love was sitting on the Cavs’ bench supporting his teammates in the Eastern Conference Finals. It had to be tough for the seven-year veteran to be sidelined during his first playoff run.
What happened next was worse.
As the Cavs eliminated the Hawks to advance to the NBA Finals, Love joined his teammates in the celebration. Love relates this story to Cleveland.com:
I walk out there, the teammate will remain nameless, I go up and give him a big hug [and I said] ‘congratulations’ and he takes his arm and he goes, ‘Ah yeah man, good game’ and just hits me right on the arm, Love playfully explained. Some of the front office staff who was out there with me kind of had to grab me and said, ‘Are you OK?’ I had one of those moments where I was like, ‘Oh man, I’m going to have to go back to the locker room. How is that going to look? Will I have to have to sit down?’ So I just tried to take a deep breath, calm myself and got home and iced as quickly as [possible].
While many thought Love might be one and done with the Cavs this season, the power forward told Cleveland.com that he wants to come back and play in Cleveland next season.