Sitting with Kevin Love at the Utah Jazz practice facility in December 2025, I’m reading quotes to him from 2008 — what the NBA pundits of the time said about him in the days and weeks leading up to and following the NBA draft.
Unathletic. Can’t play defense. Just does what he wants.
On one hand, Love says, they were right. He did do what he wanted. He wanted to make it to the NBA and he was the No. 5 overall pick in 2008 out of UCLA. He was never going to be an elite individual defender, he knew that. And, he weighed roughly 277 pounds (at least 30 more than he does now) when he first got to the NBA — of course he was athletically outmatched by his peers.
On the other hand, those who scoffed at Love’s defense were made to eat crow when it was his stifling one-on-one effort against Stephen Curry in the final minute of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals that helped the Cleveland Cavaliers win their first NBA title. And sure, he wasn’t the most athletic guy, but he is quick to point out that he had a 35-inch max vertical leap at the NBA combine, and that Denver’s Nikola Jokic is arguably the best basketball player in the world, despite the “unathletic” label.
As far as doing what he wants, well, it’s not exactly black and white. At times he did. There were definitely times that he was impulsive and acted on unregulated emotion. There were times that he felt entitled and he was selfish. But he also didn’t really know any better when it came to basketball. He was taught that he had to be hard and demand respect.
I read Love some more quotes; this time, they’re his own words from 2009 at the end of his rookie season. Earlier in the year, he’d been snubbed from the Rising Stars game during All-Star weekend, and on the day I’m reading from, he’d learned that he finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting.
“I was selfish, angry, bitter, entitled, arrogant, I had bad habits. But more than anything, I was a bad teammate.”
— Utah Jazz veteran Kevin Love on his early days in the league
As I’m reading, Love cringes, squints and covers his face with his hands.
Back in 2009, he snuck in a complaint about not playing enough minutes before he mocked the voters, sarcastically quipping that maybe a 30th double-double would have swayed them (he finished his rookie season with 29 double-doubles). He said that he’d already been looked over once that year and a second time didn’t matter. Then he said maybe he’d look back at all of this and laugh in 15 years.
“Oh, I’m definitely looking at it and laughing, just not the way I thought I would,” Love says, shaking his head and chuckling. “Ugh, I’ve got the shame shivers. ... I just sound so young and I was such a little (expletive). I didn’t know any better. I am laughing, that’s very funny. But I look at that kid and I just wish I could wrap my arms around him and be like, ‘Dude, you’re better than this. Channel it elsewhere.’”
It would be at least six years before he really learned what it took to be a well-rounded NBA player, a good teammate and a winner. It would be nearly a decade before he learned how to channel his feelings and his anger.
An apology for Ricky Rubio
In 2024, former Utah Jazz player Ricky Rubio announced that he was retiring from the game of basketball, choosing to focus on his mental health. Love, who had been teammates with Rubio in Minnesota for three years, and then again later in Cleveland for another year, reached out to Rubio because he needed to get something off his chest.
“One of my biggest regrets ... is that I wish I was a better teammate for him and other guys, but really for him, because he really cared,” Love said. “I actually apologized. It had haunted me that I’d never said that.”
Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Love, right, and Ricky Rubio, of Spain, celebrate a basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, in Philadelphia.| AP
When Love describes the kind of player he was, early in his career with the Timberwolves, he is his harshest critic.
“I was a bad teammate,” he says plainly. “I was selfish, angry, bitter, entitled, arrogant, I had bad habits. But more than anything, I was a bad teammate.”
It was talent, hard work, not getting distracted, staying strong and being recognized for all of those things that had gotten Love to the NBA as a highly decorated prospect.
What he didn’t understand about the NBA, but would later learn, was that learning how to follow would actually make him a good leader, and that giving yourself to a team doesn’t just mean sacrificing shots or touches — it means sacrificing pride and prioritizing others.
In order to be the best version of himself on a basketball court, in order to be a champion, he would have to accept that he wasn’t the best. He would have to be humbled and he would have to learn that being a good teammate is the most important thing you can do.
“I did have a father that was very strong-willed and hard on me, in particular, in how I went about my business,” Love said. “He had a real, (expletive) you attitude, and I think I had to adopt that in order to get to the level I wanted to in this league. What faltered was my awareness of actually giving to the team and what that meant.”
In Minnesota, Love says that he didn’t have that classic veteran mentor. He didn’t have someone who came with a credible NBA résumé taking him under their wing, showing him how to be professional about his everyday work. He didn’t have teammates that could explain the need to give in order to gain in the NBA.
He expected that his accolades would mean that his coaches would trust him from the outset. They did not. He expected that his talent would mean the front office would work diligently to build a winning team around him. They did not. He expected that when he went public with his frustrations, that they would bend to him. They did not.
When he looks back on that time in Minnesota, he’s not ashamed of how he acted or for the raw feelings that he lashed out with. If anything, he’s grateful. Those early moments, though often cringe-worthy, gave him deep appreciation once he started to really understand the ways he needed to change.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Kevin Martin, left, forward Kevin Love and guard J.J. Barea, right, watch their team from the bench during game against the Utah Jazz in Minneapolis, Wednesday, April 16, 2014.| AP
He wouldn’t learn the error of his ways until after the Timberwolves traded him to the Cavaliers. It was in Cleveland where Love was flanked by veterans and champions like LeBron James, James Jones, Mike Miller and Shawn Marion. It was with the Cavs that Love made his first playoff berth and then became a champion himself.
It was in Cleveland where Love learned that winning at the very highest level in the NBA means that every single moment needs to be considered and that every single player on the team has to be willing to do whatever it takes to win, even when it doesn’t benefit them — the team has to be the most important thing.
That’s why now, after having been in the NBA for 18 years, Love feels the need to apologize to players like Rubio. Because by Love’s estimation, Rubio understood the value of a being a good teammate.
“He radiated goodness,” Love says. “He radiated team, and he built guys up.”
Meanwhile, Love had been a young player concerned only with what was happening to him and how things impacted him. Once he started to shift his thinking on a new team, he also started to accept friendship in a new way and then learned to ask for help when his own mental health struggles became too much to handle on his own.
“There were dark moments, and there was so much of it all, early on, that was ugly,” Love said. “I’m definitely not proud of some of the things I did or said, but I’m not ashamed because I learned a lot and I’m very proud of where I am now and who I am.”
A lesson to pass on
Looking out at his teammates on the practice court in Salt Lake City, most of them so young compared to him, Love can’t help but feel a little bit of jealousy.
Jazz CEO Danny Ainge is talking with Cody Williams. President of basketball operations Austin Ainge is talking with general manager Justin Zanik and head coach Will Hardy in between two groups of players that are doing drills, and soon, owner Ryan Smith will make his way onto the court, greeting everyone he passes.
“They have a team owner that knows all of their names. These guys standing here take the time daily to talk to the players and give them feedback. They actually care,” Love says. “They don’t know how lucky they are. They don’t know that this doesn’t happen everywhere else.”
Coincidentally, that’s what Hardy says about the players being able to share a locker room with Love.
They have what Love did not. They have a teammate who is a five-time All-Star and NBA champion, an Olympic gold medalist and a future hall-of-famer who can lead by example, can show and tell them what it means to be a good teammate. Love can share how twisted he had things early in his career.
Utah Jazz forward Kevin Love, right, talks with center Jusuf Nurkić during a game against the Boston Celtics held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Hardy isn’t willing to agree with how Love describes his young self. One, Hardy didn’t know him then. Two, every young player goes through their own process of finding themselves in the NBA, and Hardy doesn’t see it all as negative or bad.
“It’s like the airplane mask theory,” Hardy said. “You’ve got to put your mask on before you help other people. There’s a lot of young players that I’ve been around and yeah, they are thinking about themselves and yes, that’s their No. 1 focus. ‘I have to get good. I have to figure out who I am, where I fit in the food chain.’ But I still think there’s ways to be a good teammate while you’re going through that. Kevin may not be giving himself enough credit for going through it all.”
Ultimately, everything that Love has been through — the good and bad — is why Hardy was so keen to have him on the roster. There are Jazz players that are probably not ready to fully absorb some of the wisdom that Love has to offer. Rookies Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton Jr. are still trying to establish good eating habits and workout routines, so they need some more time before they are tackling these bigger and more philosophical NBA topics.
But for players like Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler, Hardy would be hard-pressed to find a better veteran to have them spend time with.
“I think it’s really good for Keyonte, where he is in this group. I think it’s really good for Lauri, and Lauri is not a young player, but he’s younger, not old. I think it’s really good for Kevin to spend time with Walker,” Hardy said. “Those guys can take a lot from it because of where they are in the arc of their career, how their lives and roles and expectations have changed, their status has changed. Kevin can be really important for guys like that.”
George knows that he’s been lucky through his first three NBA seasons. He’s been around players like John Collins and Kris Dunn, who taught him the value of professionalism and respecting the game. Now, with a locker right next to Love’s, he wants to soak up every word that Love is willing to share.
“There were dark moments, and there was so much of it all, early on, that was ugly. I’m definitely not proud of some of the things I did or said, but I’m not ashamed because I learned a lot and I’m very proud of where I am now and who I am.”
— Utah Jazz big man Kevin Love
Sometimes they’re not even talking about basketball. It doesn’t matter to George: He feels like there are nuggets of cloaked knowledge in everything that Love says. George has learned that the more he can make things not about basketball, the more he is able to be a good teammate.
He thinks back to his rookie season, and he struggled, as Love did, to reconcile the talent and effort it took to get to the NBA with the opportunities or recognition that he either received or did not receive.
But George is learning to think beyond himself. He thinks about all the people that it takes to run a team like the Jazz — from the front office to the kitchen and cleaning staff at the practice facility — and all of the pressures that they’re all facing in their own lives. He thinks about what Love says about the importance of giving yourself to a team and wants to make sure he’s the right kind of teammate.
Honesty is where George thinks it all lands. That’s what he appreciates the most from Love.
“He’s always honest with me,” George says with a smile. “I’ll tell him about something and ask him if I’m trippin’ and he won’t skip a beat. He’ll be like, ‘Yeah, you’re trippin.’ And I know he’s right, ’cause he’s been there. That’s why he’s great. He’s a phenomenal teammate. Don’t let him tell you otherwise.”
Utah Jazz forward Kevin Love slaps hands with forward Lauri Markkanen (23) as a timeout is called during a game against the Boston Celtics held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News