Kevin Love on Bench Role With Cavs: ‘I Think it Can Add a lot of Time to My Career’

Kevin Love was once one of the NBA’s best players and a key figure in a Cleveland Cavaliers squad that won an NBA Championship.

As Love has gotten older, he has become more of a role player for Cleveland, but it’s a role he is learning to embrace.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, Love spoke about the positives that his role as a bench contributor has had on his career.

“Coming off the bench, I think it can add a lot of time to my career,” says Love. “I feel great. My body feels great. Mentally I feel great. In this league, if you can rebound and you can shoot, you can basically play for as long as you want. I have no [plans on] slowing down or stepping away anytime soon.”

This season, Love has played in 71 games for the Cavs but has started only four of them, the fewest total of any season in his NBA career by a large margin. The second-lowest total came from Love’s 2012-13 season, where he only played 18 games, starting all 18 of them.

Coming off the bench hasn’t hindered Love’s production thought, as he is currently averaging a respectable 13.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game.

Now 33-years-old, Love is in the latter stages of an NBA career that produced five All-Star appearances, two All-NBA mentions, and was the 2010-11 NBA Most Improved Player.

While Love may not be an All-Star anymore, he has still played a prominent role in the Cavs’ most successful season in years. Cleveland is currently seventh in the Eastern Conference with a record of 43-37 and is on pace to clinch a postseason appearance for the first time since 2018.

Cleveland has just two games remaining this season, closing out the regular season on Sunday, April 10, against the Brooklyn nets.