Earlier this year, Kevin Love detailed his battles with anxiety in an essay for The Players' Tribune.
As it turns out, in the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room, Love wasn't alone. On Thursday, hours ahead of his team's Game 1 matchup with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue revealed he's being treated for anxiety, which caused his temporary mid-season departure from the team.
"I'm glad it wasn't anything serious," Lue told ESPN's Rachel Nichols in an interview. "Just anxiety, and the medication I'm on is great. No more chest pains, so everything's been great."
Now in his third season as the Cavs' head coach, Lue had missed either parts of or entire games multiple times throughout the 2017-18 season. After Lue missed the second half of his team's victory over the Chicago Bulls at the end of a long road trip in mid-March, the Cavs announced the former NBA point guard would be taking a leave of absence from the team.
After making his return to the sideline more than two weeks later, Lue credited dietary changes -- specifically, the absence of soda -- for his improved help.
"I think for the first time in my career, 20 years, I had a chance to focus on me. It wasn't as bad as people thought it was. But I did have some chest pains for the last couple of years. And I was just trying to be able to get through it not knowing what was wrong with me," Lue told Nichols. "So the two weeks I took off, just finally had a chance to focus on myself and change my diet. Hired a chef. Stopped drinking as many Shirley Temples. And stopped with the sweets and got back to taking care of myself. Now I feel great."
When his absence was first announced, several members of the NBA community reached out to Lue, including Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. Now, for the third time in as many years, Lue and Kerr -- who has had health battles of his own -- will square off in the NBA Finals, with Game 1 tipping off in Oakland at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday night.
