Kevin Love was at one point part of the Team USA Olympics squad in Tokyo but ended up not participating in the tournament and withdrew from the squad so he could rehabilitate a nagging right calf injury.
After his exit from the Olympics team, there were some disparaging comments said about Love by USA basketball managing director, Jerry Colangelo. Colangelo ripped Love claiming that "he wasn't in shape, and he was way behind".
I didn't think Kevin Love was going to play. I wasn't even sure he had much left to play. He reached out to us and said he was in shape and said he felt he owed us. And on the basis of that, we're looking at someone with international experience who at one time was a heck of a rebounder and could still shoot the ball. You know, being like a 12th man on a roster.
Well, it didn't work out. He wasn't in shape. And he was way behind as it turned out. So you move on. Call it a mistake. Call it giving someone an opportunity. Someone who had equity with us.
Kevin Love has recently responded to those comments on an episode of The Shop: Uninterrupted. When speaking about the situation, Kevin Love claimed that Jerry Colangelo was trying to protect his legacy, and was looking to point the finger at somebody, which ended up being Love.
Bron called me. Same thing, and was like "Yeah f*ck that... that's something that should never be said regardless of what was said on either side and all of that, you just never do that." Because, there was no need to do that.
Protecting his legacy. He wanted something to point the finger at if they lost. In case it didn't go right, which it was looking bad. It was just wrong in so many ways.
For me, I'm sitting up here being the nice guy right now. But honestly... f*ck that.
It's easy to see why Kevin Love felt slighted by those original comments. Even if Kevin Love was out of shape, it seems like publically blasting Love about it doesn't really do anything, as he had already left the team at that point in time.
There's no doubt that Kevin Love can still be a solid contributor to a team as a veteran, even if he's no longer the force that he used to be. {Perhaps he'll be able to showcase what he can do next season and silence his doubters.
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