Kevin Love proved Team USA wrong when it was all said and done

Kevin Love proved Team USA wrong that he was washed up.

When we talk about comeback stories in Cleveland sports history, one of the most impressive and celebrated will be that of Kevin Love and his showing during the 2021-2022 season. Love was seen as someone on his last legs and was becoming a problem on and off the court with his frustrations boiling over on a regular occurrence.

A lot of that was building over the years prior to the season, injuries have been mounting, his outbursts were becoming more regular, and then his time with Team USA basketball came to a disastrous end.

Love felt like he owed the team something, and there may have been a desire to show the NBA what he could still do on a national circuit. He wasn’t ready, however. Years of wear and tear had taken their toll and he wasn’t ready for the grind that was international basketball. So he bowed out when he realized he wasn’t ready to put his best foot forward.

It was the right move for Love and Team USA, but Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo didn’t feel the same, and instead went to task on Love, saying (via FadeAwayWorld) ;

"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 isn’t holding back when it comes to Jerry Colangelo

Love, for his part, worked hard, got healthy physically and mentally, and came back in 2021 and finished as the runner-up for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. His season was heralded as a comeback of comebacks. If the NBA gave such an award out, Love would’ve been a lock for it.

So when Love was interviewed last week by Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report (via Cavs Nation), he was very candid, saying;

"People that I’ve had relationships with throughout USA basketball for that long, threw me under the bus. And I didn’t like that,” Love said. “I felt that I did the right thing by coming to the landing spot and landing point that I eventually got to. I just thought it was very unfair and coming from this elite fraternity that we have in our 450 players. You would think, like, you take care of each other."

That wasn’t all, however, as Love was also on The Shop (via Bleacher Report) where he was far blunter on his feelings toward Colangelo, simply saying;

"F–k him."

That says it all, don’t you think?