Kevin Love Reflects On LeBron James Leaving Cavaliers For Lakers

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love revealed he had some notion about where LeBron James would end up in the 2018/19 season as he believes the Akron native ultimately left for a new challenge.

James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers last month in a four-year deal that will see him play his basketball in the Western Conference for the first time in his career.

His departure marked the second time he had left the Cavaliers, however, this time, it was met with more acceptance especially as James helped deliver the city its first-ever championship when they defeated the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.

However, the following two postseasons since then haven't been too memorable. In the 2017 NBA Finals, the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 4-1 while earlier this summer, they swept a much weaker Cleveland side, who were without Kyrie Irving this time.

Love, viewed as the second-best Cavs player, wasn't able to help make it a competitive series this year and following their third defeat to the Bay Area side in the last four years, it became inevitable that James would depart his hometown team.

Over a month since the move, Love reflected on the departure of the 33-year-old when asked if he had an idea about it in a recent ESPN interview.

"I had somewhat of an idea. I had, like everybody, weighed the options and had an idea of where he might go," Love said. "I knew it was probably between Cleveland and Los Angeles. I think he’s always looking for a different challenge. He’s always wondering what’s next, and it feels like sometimes he’s playing chess and everybody else is playing checkers."

"He’s very, very mentally strong, knows the game of basketball so well, and sometimes there’s something he sees that other people don’t. So I think making it to four straight finals, him helping us the most in us winning a championship in 2016, I think he might’ve been looking for something different and a change — next chapter for him — and here we are."

The LeBron effect has seen the Lakers become instant playoff contenders as they are expected to win over 45 games next season for the first time since 2010/11, after finishing the recent campaign with a 35-47 record.

The Cavaliers meanwhile, who notably improved by 20 wins when James made his return in 2014, have an expected win total of just 30.5 games in the upcoming season after finishing last year with a 50-32 record.

The good news for Cleveland fans however, is Love will be staying for the next couple of years. The 29-year-old signed a four-year, $132 million extension late last month as he remains committed to the Cavaliers.

"I'd like to thank the Cleveland Cavaliers organization, [owner] Dan Gilbert and Koby Altman for having their trust in me and believing in our future," Love said at the time. "When I got traded here a few years back, I was committed to being here long term and I was committed to our culture, excellence in playing the game of basketball. And I think who we have on our team and who we have moving forward really reflects that."