Heat’s Kevin Love doubles down on mental health advocacy with powerful message

Love has not been shy in revealing his own struggles with mental health as he did six years ago as he wrote a piece for The Players Tribune where he talked about it. This was in reference to a post by current Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan where on Twitter, he brought up the topic of depression. The current Heat star said that it has been great to see players come to him or are outspoken about their issues.

“Just within an arm’s distance and very close, our locker room in Cleveland and as well as in here [in Miami], guys feel more and more comfortable to not only be themselves but be like, ‘Hey, I’m struggling with something,’” Love said per Chiang. “I think just being at the forefront of it, DeMar and myself included, it’s not a burden by any means. But certainly the consistency of people coming to us and asking for resources and where to go and for help has continued to be on the uptick.”

“It’s good that people actually have the willingness to do that to ask for that help,” Love continued. “I think it’s only the beginning, especially in the NBA and in sports, for the acceptance of mental health and mental well-being being a big part of what we do both physically, emotionally, mentally, in your soul, whatever it may be. Being able to take care of that so you can take care of everything else.”

Love talks how players helped him with mental health

There is no doubt that people being blunt with their problems and asking for help is something Love wants to see more as he is still open about his own mental health. He would credit people like DeRozan and his former Cleveland Cavalier teammate in Ricky Rubio for helping him.

“I don’t know what the future holds as far as being able to eradicate something or get rid of it,” Love said. “It’s an ongoing evolution and ongoing work for me, but it’s been changing my relationship with my anxiety and my dark spells.”

“But I do feel like just being open and willing to pay it forward and help that next person like a Ricky [Rubio] and how DeMar did for me,” Love continued. “I think that sense of purpose and that sense that everybody wants to be on the winning side of history, we all want to be able to help somebody even if in some cases it means sacrifice. I think it brings me a lot of joy because I am just at my core a giver, in general.”

How the birth of Love’s daughter helped him

A lot has changed for Love since his departure for Cleveland as he joined a new team with the Heat and how his wife and himself welcomed the birth of a daughter. For the 35-year old, his daughter has made him “grateful for a lot of different things in life.”

“It’s a sense of purpose outside of just coming into work or trying to bring a different style of leadership here, as well as in the mental health space,” Love said via The Miami Herald. “But my daughter certainly has made me really consider and be grateful for a lot of different things in life, including the beauty and struggle both on and off the floor.”

Love’s transition from the Cavaliers to the Heat

In terms of the transition from Cleveland to Miami, it seemed to have been as seamless as possible, saying “they accepted me from the beginning.” However, there was some struggles like living in a hotel during last season since the Heat signed him off the buyout market.

“They accepted me from the beginning. So I think that allowed me to settle in,” Love said. “I think off the floor was harder to get settled in initially because I was living out of a hotel for the first time ever during a season. Basically until the offseason, we were in a really short-term high rise, which never felt like home. But now we’re finally settled in here. We have a place that we feel like we can grow into and we’ve made Miami a home.”

Looking at the basketball side of it, Love is integral to Miami as the backup center to star Bam Adebayo. While he is still injured with a right heel bruise and will miss his eighth straight game Friday against the Detroit Pistons, Love will be crucial down the stretch as the Heat are 35-30 which puts them eighth in the Eastern Conference.