Kevin Love is returning to Cleveland, announcing Thursday that he’s officially inked a five-year, $113 million deal with the Cavaliers.
Today it's inked and official. I did this video to talk about my reasons for returning to Cleveland http://t.co/KK1kk6mGEU @PlayersTribune
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) July 9, 2015
Love broke down how he came to his decision, telling The Players’ Tribune that watching his guys go down in the NBA Finals convinced him to re-up, and jump back into the pressure-filled cauldron once again next season.
LeBron James is also returning to Ohio, and Love reports that he set up their now-famous poolside chat which gave the two stars a chance to hash out their issues.
Per the AP:
Love, who announced last week that he will stay in Cleveland, said Thursday that he and James had a “very honest” talk before free agency opened and the discussion led him to re-signing with the Cavs, a team he hopes to help win an NBA championship. […] The Love-James relationship was constantly analyzed last season as the Cavs tried to mesh new players under first-year coach David Blatt.
“He happened to be in Los Angeles the same time I was,” Love said of James, who remains a free agent but will re-sign with Cleveland. “So, we just talked everything out and a lot of stuff was very honest and we came to a really good place and we agreed on a lot of things, so I think that was also a very big deal when you’re talking to the best player in the world.” […] The pair were photographed sitting near a pool and Love said “it turns out pools are great meeting places” when he revealed he would re-sign with Cleveland.
“I expressed this to LeBron and he’d been through it a couple of times now — I can actually go wherever I want and pick the team I want to play for,” Love said. […] “But every time I went through the different scenarios I always came out at the same place, and that was to be in Cleveland and try to win championships. I would be able to really help this team win and going forward make a very big impact on this team and on this city, trying to bring a championship or championships.”
