Heat's Kevin Love Calls Cavaliers Buyout 'Hardest Thing I Ever Had to Do'

Kevin Love told reporters Wednesday that his decision to ask for a buyout from the Cleveland Cavaliers was the "hardest thing [he] ever had to do" during his NBA career:

"Professionally, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do without question. I think you guys know how much I love Cleveland and Ohio. All the fans there have always supported me and the team. I go back to Brecksville, and I'm like, 'We did that. We really did that.' That was incredibly hard to do after eight and a half seasons, but I think more than anything, I felt like I could still play, and I know I can still play. I didn't shoot the ball great from 3, but there's been so many things that I think I'm impacting the team here in a major way. I felt like I could still play, and sometimes you have to give yourself up and sacrifice."

Love spent nearly nine seasons with the Cavs, coming to Cleveland in 2014 as the franchise attempted to build a winner around LeBron James after the prodigal son's return home. Considered the third wheel early in his stint as James and Kyrie Irving took starring roles, Love outlasted both of their tenures in Cleveland.

Irving requested a trade in 2017 and was dealt to the Boston Celtics, and James followed him out the door a year later, signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Love stayed, signing a four-year, $120 million deal with the Cavs weeks after James' departure. He remained even as Cleveland struggled to remain relevant in the standings and through his frustration with the growing roster.

Unfortunately for Love, the Cavs started getting good again right around the time his game started showing marked decline. Cleveland coach JB Bickerstaff jettisoned the five-time All-Star from his rotation in January and set the stage for Love's exit. He requested a buyout after February's trade deadline and signed with the Miami Heat for the remainder of this season.

Love spoke on Bickerstaff's choice Wednesday:

"I think it was a really tough decision for him to take me out of the lineup. I think ultimately, they wanted to go young and stick with those guys and get Dean [Wade] and Cedi [Osman] and Ricky [Rubio] minutes – especially Ricky and Dean especially getting back from injury – so they want to get the guys more minutes. But just natural frustration is you want to be out there, you want to have those conversations in the locker room, you want to be in those timeouts, those type of situations, and I think that all came so fast for me."

Love is averaging a career-low 8.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game this season. He has struggled with his shot, shooting just 33.8 percent from three-point range.