Kevin Love’s Team USA performance should scare Golden State Warriors

Since the time he first set foot in Cleveland, Kevin Love has been in trade rumors. In a recent plot twist, however, the Cavaliers are beginning to ponder the possibility of simply buying out the remainder of Love’s contract. According to reports, the Golden State Warriors would be very interested in pursuing the five-time All-Star.

Truthfully, their interest in Love made sense. He’s a stretch forward with championship experience who would likely sign for the MLE to compete for another title. He fits exactly what the Warriors need and it was assumed Love is playing below his capabilities on a bottom-feeder team in Cleveland.

However, his recent shortcomings with Team USA should be showing the Warriors all they need to turn away from Love.

The Golden State Warriors have reportedly shown strong interest in Kevin Love but his recent Team USA performance should scare them away.

It came as a bit of a shock to see Love named to the 2021 Olympic Basketball Team. After all, it’s been years since he was a star-caliber player in the NBA. But, as previously mentioned, everyone seemed to think Love would elevate his play when surrounded by talent once again.

This just didn’t happen.

Love struggled through his first three games with the team. He only earned three minutes of playing time in their embarrassing loss to Nigeria and didn’t even appear on the court in their loss to Australia. Love finally cracked some consistent minutes as Team USA routed Argentina, but he only finished with 1 point on 0-of-2 shooting from the field in 12 minutes.

It has become painfully clear to anybody watching that Love has run out of gas. He is no longer a star and honestly doesn’t look like he belongs next to the rest of the Olympic team. Perhaps it is only a matter of knocking off some rust after years of being on a lottery squad — but Love ultimately made the decision to withdraw from Team USA earlier today.

Per Chris Fedor, Love looked “bad” in practices workouts, scrimmages and games. His mobility is gone and his overall attitude has been somewhat of an issue for the Cavaliers over the last few seasons. There have been multiple instances of Love clashing with teammates and executives in Cleveland. So much for that ‘championship’ mentality.

This was a harsh reality check for Love. Realizing he just isn’t cut out to play with the league’s best players is a wake-up call, for sure. Not only for Love but for the Warriors as well. The Warriors will be desperate to improve their roster but they will have to think twice about pursuing Love after this failure.