Is Kevin Love a Cleveland Cavaliers legend and a future Hall of Famer?

Is Kevin Love a Cleveland Cavaliers franchise legend and future basketball Hall of Famer?

Kevin Love’s time in Cleveland is over, and the veteran big man is on the move to a new team. Love’s time in Cleveland may be over but Love spent nearly nine seasons in town doing his best to help the club win. He arrived in time for LeBron James’ second act and helped the Cavs clinch their first-ever NBA Championship in 2016, and went to a few All-Star games along the way.

While Love was at times a bit difficult to deal with during the leaner years, yelling at coaches and throwing chairs, he made up for it with his generosity. His philanthropy is legendary. He not only donates his money but has spent time raising awareness for mental health and talking candidly about his own struggles. Love even helped contribute to the arena employees’ pay when the league shut down in 2020.

Love has done a lot for the team, both on and off the court, and while the answer may be obvious, we have to ask; is he a franchise legend? Well, yeah. That’s pretty obvious. He’s in a lot of Top 10s for the franchise. So many, here is every major category Love ranks in the Top 10 in and his place;

• Field Goals 10th
• Field Goal Attempts – 9th
• 3-Point Field Goals – 2nd
• 3-Point Field Goals Attempted – 2nd
• Free Throws – 8th
• Free Throw Attempts – 10th
• Defensive Rebounds – 3rd
• Total Rebounds 6th
• Points – 9th
• Rebounds Per Game – 8th
• Field Goal Efficiency Rating – 10th
• Offensive and Defensive Win shares – 9th each
• Win shares – 8th
• Box Plus/Minus – 8th
• Value Oveer Replacement Player – 8th

So yeah, Kevin Love is a franchise legend, without a doubt.

Is Kevin Love a future Hall of Famer however?

Love’s time with Cleveland and before them, the Minnesota Timberwolves, produced a lot of awards and even a championship, but what has he done to qualify as a pro basketball Hall of Famer? Well, here’s a list of his accomplishments;

• NBA champion (2016)
• 5× NBA All-Star (2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018)
• 2× All-NBA Second Team (2012, 2014)
• NBA Most Improved Player (2011)
• NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2009)
• NBA Three-Point Contest champion (2012)
• NBA rebounding leader (2011)

When we think of obvious Hall of Famers, we think of guys with 10+ All-Star Games, an MVP, a DPOY, and other awards. Those aren’t things that Love has. Yet, what he has going for him is franchise relevance. He was a key cog on the Cavs ’16 team that won a title, and that will help raise his profile.

However, what will put him over the top isn’t his NBA accolades but his non-NBA awards. The pro basketball Hall of Fame, aka the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, isn’t an NBA Hall of Fame, it’s a pro basketball Hall of Fame.

That means that Love’s two Gold Medals get counted as well. He won the 2010 FIBA World Championship for the United States and the 2012 Gold Medal at the Olympics in London. Those, in my opinion, put Love over the top as a no-doubt Hall of Famer.