CLEVELAND — If Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse looks a little more formal than you expected it to on Saturday night, you're not mistaken.
Paying tribute to former Cleveland Cavaliers TV play-by-play announcer Fred McLeod, who passed away suddenly in September, many at the team's season opener -- from fans to media members and broadcasters -- are wearing ties, some of which were gifted by McLeod's widow, Beth.
Kevin Love wasn't about to be left out.
Taking the court for a pregame shooting session prior to the Cavs' 8 p.m. tip-off with the Indiana Pacers, the 5-time All-Star forward wore a sky blue necktie over his warmup top. Love's fashion choice was an obvious nod to McLeod, who served as the television voice of Cleveland basketball for the previous 13 seasons, the last five of which Love was a member of the team.
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McLeod's unexpected death at 67-years-old sent shockwaves throughout both Cleveland and the NBA community. Last week, his widow, Beth, began gifting ties from his personal collection to friends, members of the media and employees in the Cavs organization, who were encouraged to pay tribute to Fred by wearing them during the home opener on Saturday.
"Fred McLeod was all about his ties," Beth's note with each tie read. "In his honor, I have decided to share his ties with the special people in his life. Please wear this tie with pride to the Cavs opening night, your opening night, special RMFH events, when you visit RMFH with your team or any other special occasion you attend and think of Freddy!
"As Fred used to say with a smile on his face, 'you gotta have a good tie guy!' So now, please allow Fred to be each of YOUR tie guy with this tie from his personal collection!"
With Beth standing mere feet away as he warmed up, Love, apparently, took the message to heart.
