The Resurgence of Kevin Love

Kevin Love is having his best season yet, and nobody is talking about it.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 13-2 at this point in the NBA season. They are first place in the Eastern Conference, and the reigning champs look spry, fit, healthy, and absolutely lethal from long range. The likes of Kyrie Irving, JR Smith, Mike Dunleavy, and Channing Frye are torching the league, and they are led by the best player in the world, LeBron James. Oh yeah, and then they have this guy named Kevin Love who is dominating the competition this year, but no one seems to care. To the casual basketball observer, K-Love is having a solid season. He is averaging 22.3 point per game, and 10.7 rebounds per game as well. This double-double average has been consistent for the all-star power forward throughout his career, but this season his percentages and efficiency stand at career bests. When he is on the court, the Cavaliers average 3.9 more rebounds than when he is off it, and their offensive efficiency increases by 6.7 when he is playing. Further, he is shooting a career best 43% from 3-point range (for comparison back-to-back league MVP Stephen Curry is averaging 42.1% from 3-point range this year). Love is also shooting a career high 86.5% from the free-throw-line, and committing an average of only 1.9 fouls per game. On the whole, his efficiency is stupendous, and the Cavaliers offense is clinically dissecting opponents because of it. Just this past week, Love scored a franchise record 34 points in the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers, en route to a healthy victory (highlights here). The takeaway: don’t sleep on Kevin Love, and should he keep his play up, you will definitely see him return to the All-Star game, this time as a Cleveland Cavalier.