If Kevin Love had decided to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers this offseason, there were plenty of reasonable excuses he could have conjured up.
Why would he want to play for a coach who developed a pattern of benching him in the fourth quarter? Why would he want to play alongside a superstar who back in February took the circuitous route of calling him out on social media about his attitude rather than walk across the locker room to tell him? Why would he want to play in an offensive system that afforded him only 12.7 shots per game but allowed J.R. Smith to hoist up 11?
Why wouldn’t he want to play for the Lakers, his dad’s former team, and live in Los Angeles, where his girlfriend resides? Why wouldn’t he want to step into a potential void left by LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland and try to bring his hometown team back to prominence? Why wouldn’t he want to slide into what may be a more natural fit for his game in Houston next to James Harden and Dwight Howard?
Of course, all of those questions weren't the most important ones. Instead, Love announced in a letter on the Player’s Tribune that his epiphany to return to Cleveland came during Game 1 of the NBA Finals, when he saw the Cavaliers give the Golden State Warriors everything they could handle in an overtime loss.
“I just wanted to help my guys win,” Love wrote. “I couldn’t have been prouder of them as they poured their blood, sweat and tears onto the court.”
The Cavs' playoff run was obviously a special one, from James’ brilliance, Kyrie Irving’s gutsiness, Tristan Thompson’s emergence to even Matthew Dellavedova achieving cult-hero status. A shoulder injury forced him out in the first round, but Love still felt like he was a part of things. The Cleveland crowd went bonkers whenever Quicken Loans arena showed Love in street clothes on the humungotron, and Iman Shumpert checked in with him on Facetime from the team plane when Love’s post-op shoulder prevented him from traveling.
Which is why Love went on record at the end of May, telling reporters, “I expect to be suiting up by Game 1 of next year.”
“For the Cavs?” a reporter asked.
"Yes, sir," Love promptly responded.
He was asked again, after that a-ha moment in Game 1, if he was coming back to Cleveland.
“Yes," Love said. "I want to win.”
A meeting between Love and the Lakers scheduled for this week was reported late Tuesday night, raising concerns of his departure, but even that was fraught with problems. A sitdown with the Lakers would have occurred after the team had already spoken to LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Monroe and DeAndre Jordan; if he was upset with not being the main option in Cleveland, would he leave for a team that didn't prioritize him in free agency?
When Love was asked in February if there was any scenario in which he could envision himself becoming a Laker he answered, simply, “No.”
Again, he was true to his words.
(Besides, just because he plays for Cleveland doesn’t mean Love can’t spend time in L.A. I’m writing this right now at a coffee shop in Venice Beach, California. It can be done.)
No, the most significant part of Love’s decision wasn’t the fact that a pro athlete actually kept his word or that someone would choose a city like Cleveland and its brutal winters over a place like L.A. and its year-round sun. It was the two sentences with which he finished his story.
“We’re all on the same page and we’re all in,” Love wrote. “We have unfinished business and now it’s time to get back to work.”
It's not an accident that Love’s five-year, $110 million extension was announced on the first day of free agency, or that Thompson’s five-year, $80 million deal was close to being completed on Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein.
Love's "unfinished business" sets the tone for Cleveland's upcoming season. As ESPN’s Kevin Pelton sagely pointed out, the Cavs were at their overall best with Love on the floor last season. After injuries derailed all that they figured out in a half year of trial-and-error, the Cavs will now be on a mission to finish what they started.
There are still chips to fall. General manager David Griffin must find a way to keep owner Dan Gilbert’s wallet open long enough to try to find deals for Shumpert, Dellavedova and Smith, knowing full well that each contract will bring with it greater and greater luxury-tax penalties. And turning Brendan Haywood’s non-guaranteed deal into a playmaker off the bench through a trade. Oh, and, you know, inking LeBron James to a new contract, too.
That’s all to be determined. Unfinished business, if you will.
Just like Love’s announcement is already generating momentum for the Cavs heading into next season, it makes you believe it will have a positive effect on how the rest of free agency goes for Cleveland as well.