[Jiujianglu] The "What If Theory" of Two Double Killers

As for Kevin Love, looking back on his career, due to his cooperation with James, he has been compared with others by the media many times; some people compare him to James' former partner Bosh, or the former Wolf King Garnett.

But when no one is paying attention, many media will always say something from time to time when discussing him:

"Is he still the double-double monster in Minnesota?"

What many people ignore is that the person Love is most often compared to is actually himself.

In the 2008 draft, Love entered the league with the fifth overall pick in the first round and was immediately sent to Minnesota by the Grizzlies. That year, Garnett had just left Boston, and the Timberwolves needed new hope.

The cold Minnesota gave the big man the warmest applause.

In his rookie season, Love scored 29 double-doubles in a single season and ranked ninth in the league in total rebounds. Especially after Kevin McHale took over the team, the talent of this modern inside man was completely unlocked.

From 2010-2012, Kevin Love's name began to be crazily associated with data. He averaged 20+15 points per game, performed a terrifying performance of 31 points and 31 rebounds in a single game, and was selected to the All-Stars consecutively.

Thanks to his outstanding performance, the internal and external combination of him and Rubio once gave Timberwolves fans a long-lost hope of the playoffs.

But there is a gap between fantasy and reality. The team's top management made frequent mistakes in the draft, resulting in this Wolves team being able to linger in the lottery zone. Even though he was still able to produce horrific statistics, the gap between the team's sluggish record and the media and fans began to question him, and "killing the leader of the group in vain" became a lingering label on him.

In 2012, Love won the Olympic gold medal with the US men's basketball team. This was also the first time Love experienced the taste of victory; and the friendship established with James in the national team also paved the way for subsequent cooperation.

In 2014, the Cavaliers traded No. 1 pick Wiggins for Love, ushering in a new Big Three. On the other side, Minnesota has once again entered a period of reconstruction, and for Love, the "what if" theory about him seems to have begun to spread from this time...

In the first round of the 2015 playoffs, Love was injured in his shoulder by Olynyk and was reimbursed for the season. When the Cavaliers finally lost to the Warriors, fans also left a question mark in their hearts:

"If Love had not been injured, would the final championship have been a different result?"

In 2016, the Cavaliers made a miraculous comeback and won the first championship in team history. But as the team's third leader, Love's performance is not stable. Although he won the championship, the fans' harsh criticism of him has not diminished at all. On the Cleveland fan wall, many fans left a lot of sarcastic content:

"What if we hadn't sent Wiggins away?"

When Irving left the Cavaliers in 2017, the team fell into turmoil. James led the team alone, and Love's performance still couldn't fill the vacancy. And there are more and more "what ifs" about him. If he can support the team, if he can become the real second-in-command, will the Cavaliers have a different ending in those years?

In the 2019-20 season, the Cavaliers completely fell off the altar. Irving is gone, and so is James, leaving only Love alone in this legacy team from the post-championship era. This team, which had lost its halo, gradually stepped off the stage, waiting to receive attention again. It was a rather embarrassing scene:

A conflict broke out between the veteran Love and the young players in the team, and he even threw a basketball directly at the young Osman on the court.

Judging from this round, some people said that he could not understand the young people in the team, while others said that Love was venting his pent-up dissatisfaction for many years. No one knew the real answer behind the conflict at the time, but what is certain is that this incident eventually became a turning point in the second half of Love's career. After that, his role on the team gradually became marginalized and he was eventually abandoned by the Cavaliers.

Objectively speaking, Love's statistics during the Timberwolves period are still scary today. In 6 years, he averaged 19 points and 12 rebounds per game, leading the team in scoring and rebounding. As one of the pioneers of modern interiors, he can grab rebounds in the interior, shoot three-pointers, and make long passes. But even so, he will always be regarded as the third leader in the Cavaliers and has never been fully recognized.

When James was here, he was the team's scapegoat; but after James left, he became the only leader.

Looking back at the big man's career, there seem to be too many regrets:

If the Timberwolves' top brass had more vision back then, would he have been able to lead the team into the playoffs?

If he had not been injured in 2015, could he have helped the Cavaliers defeat the Warriors?

If he can get along well with the young lineup, will he have a brilliant ending with the Cavaliers?

All these "what ifs" have been with him like shadows throughout his career, but it is precisely these experiences that have made Love a unique mark of the times. He has changed the world's imagination of the inside and magnified the boundaries of the fourth position; he has won championships and endured harsh criticism. After witnessing the glory and the trough, perhaps he no longer bears the "what ifs" of the past.

In the basketball world, he has already left his own mark.

Mini-game recommendations:Bricks Breaker