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Kevin Love Says Being Back at Cavaliers Facility Amid COVID-19 Felt 'Weird'
May 9, 2020
The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of a handful of NBA teams that are allowed to welcome players back into their facilities for individual, voluntary workouts in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cavaliers forward Kevin Love took the opportunity to return to the court on the first day back, and he spoke with ESPN's Dave McMenamin about the experience:
"It's just going to change the way—at least for the foreseeable future—of not only how we interact but how we live in our daily lives. So for me, was it weird? Yeah. I had [Cavs assistant coach] Dan Geriot at my basket and having him rebound and pass me the ball with a mask and gloves on. It's just odd. It's just weird."
Love also mentioned how good it felt to play basketball and return to a limited sense of normalcy for a short while:
"I feel like anybody who needs an escape or in everyday life is looking for any type of normalcy back doing something they love. For me, I played 25-ish years of organized basketball and this is the longest I've ever gone without touching [a basketball]. And it's something I really, really enjoy doing.
"So for me, it definitely was a big dopamine hit, and it just felt great to get in there and sweat outside of doing my workouts at home or getting on a treadmill. Going out there and having some sense of normalcy and getting on the court and actually shooting was pretty uplifting."
The NBA suspended its season on March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, and it has stayed suspended since as the pandemic spreads across the United States and worldwide.
There is no timetable for a return, but on a conference call with the NBPA on Friday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that "it would be safer to be in a single location, or two locations, to start," per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Per Wojnarowski, Orlando and Las Vegas are the two ideal locations to host.
As for now, teams have released plans indicating when they will open their facilities. They include the Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets, all of whom plan to do so Monday, per NBA.com. The Houston Rockets will do so on Monday, May 18.
The sessions will be under heavy restrictions. Per NBA.com, no more than four players are allowed at the facility at the same time, and head and assistant coaches are not allowed to participate in the individual practice sessions. No group activity is allowed, either.