Kevin Love wasn't surprised when his departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers' Saturday loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder was mentioned in a team meeting on Monday. After all, according to Love, every Cavs player felt targeted at one point or another during the affair.
What did catch Love off guard, however, was that the meeting had made it's way to the public. Late Monday night, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the 4-time All-Star's weekend illness was one of the primary subjects of the Cavs' air-it-out meeting.
"That's something we're going to keep -- or we try to keep it in-house and I feel like we should keep it on the court or in the locker room," Love said at shootaround on Tuesday prior to the Cavs' matchup with the San Antonio Spurs. "Obviously, it didn't stay there."
Love went on to confirm that his team's gathering was, in fact, confrontational in nature.
"We just had a meeting, aired any grievances we had and we're going to move forward," he said.
Hopefully, we'll be better for it. We have been in the past."
When it came to Love's part in the Cavs' Monday meeting, Wojnarowski reported his Cavs teammates questioned the severity of an illness, which caused him to leave the team's 148-123 loss to the Thunder and Sunday practice. Per Wojnarowski: "Several players were pushing for the Cavaliers' management and coaching staff to hold Love accountable for leaving the arena before the end of Saturday's game, and then missing Sunday's practice, league sources told ESPN."
It's been a particularly tumultuous time for the Cavs, who have lost six of their last eight games and 10 of their last 14 heading into Tuesday's game against the Spurs. Last week, several players anonymously told multiple media outlets they didn't feel a solution to their struggles existed with the roster the team has constructed, while guard Isaiah Thomas publicly preached the need for the team to hold itself accountable.
Monday's meeting could be a step toward the Cavs accomplishing just that -- although it being leaked to the media could prove to be just another setback. Nevertheless, Love is doing his best to spin what appears to be a negative situation into a potentially positive one.
"I'm numb to it at this point," Love said with a smile when asked about the negative press surrounding his team. "I've seen it before. Dysfunction -- we've been to three straight Finals. We've been able to thrive under a certain amount of chaos at some points, but the good thing about us we've gotten better throughout the course of seasons and we've peaked at the right times.
"We're hoping it's not any different."
