In the midst of all of the Cleveland turmoil, I have already written about Superman (Lebron) and Nightwing (Kyrie) so I knew it was time to write about Aquaman (Kevin Love). Kevin Love is really good at basketball. During his time in Minnesota he was considered to be the best or one of the best power forwards in the game. He was on some Minnesota teams that never made the playoffs, but Kevin Love balled out. In the same way, Aquaman is the King of Atlantis. He can communicate with all species in the ocean, he has super strength, and he can breathe underwater. Sounds amazing right? Why is it then that Kevin Love and Aquaman get no respect. I have never in my life met anyone that said Kevin Love was their favorite player or that Aquaman was their favorite superhero. These guys deserve our respect and I'm going to tell you why.
Arthur Curry's story is one that has changed over time. In the New 52, he is the son of a human and the queen of Atlantis meaning that he is half human, half Atlantean. This leads to some issues for him because he is seen as less than by Atlantis and as a freak by humans. However, he is able to become the king of Atlantis and by taking over, use his unique genetic makeup to improve relations between humans and Atlantis. Kevin Love was groomed for basketball glory by his dad that played in the NBA for a few years in the 70's. Kevin Love had huge buzz coming out of high school and spent one season at UCLA, where he helped guide them to the Final Four before losing to Memphis, although the NCAA will tell you that Memphis did not really win because Derrick Rose did something. Anyways, Love was drafted high and ended up on the Timberwolves joining a team in its 3rd season without Kevin Garnett that was not good. Love ended his 6 seasons in Minnesota after making the all-star team 3 times, winning the Most Improved Player Award in 2010, making 2nd team All-NBA twice, and consistently being at the top of the league in rebounds and even top 10 in scoring for two seasons. All this ended when Lebron James joined Cleveland and pulled the strings for Kevin Love to be sent to Cleveland in exchange for Andrew Wiggins and some other stuff. Now, Kevin Love gets no respect much like Aquaman.
I mentioned Aquaman's awesomeness in many ways, but I think part of his lack of respect was in the presentation. He wears an orange thing with green pants and green gloves. He looks awful. I have a feeling that Aquaman's popularity will change after the Justice League film with Jason Momoa comes out. Anyways, Kevin Love went from being considered one of the top 10 players in the league to now people openly stating that they do not think he can play. He is asked to fill a role in Cleveland. To watch Kevin Love play in Rick Adelman's offense in Minnesota was a thing of beauty. They ran the offense through him and his passing ability was on full display. He became such an offensive weapon for them. In Cleveland, you can watch and see that in the 1st quarter they feed him the ball in the post and for the rest of the game he is relegated to the corner, where he has become a deadly shooter, but given the chance to roam free he could still be a force. This is why in many ways, I want Cleveland to blow it up. I want to see Kevin Love back where he is the guy that runs the offense. I want to see him rebound and throw outlet passes. I want to see him catch the ball at the free throw line and immediately find back door cutters. Sadly, Kevin Love will continue to be Aquaman. Forgotten and disrespected because he stands next to Superman. Listen, Kevin Love is no Lebron, but he could be more than he is. The Cavs have been trying to trade Kevin Love for almost the entire time he has been a Cavs player and I am hoping that they make it happen and he can get back to being a respected NBA player again in the same way that Aquaman deserves to be respected.
Arthur Curry's story is one that has changed over time. In the New 52, he is the son of a human and the queen of Atlantis meaning that he is half human, half Atlantean. This leads to some issues for him because he is seen as less than by Atlantis and as a freak by humans. However, he is able to become the king of Atlantis and by taking over, use his unique genetic makeup to improve relations between humans and Atlantis. Kevin Love was groomed for basketball glory by his dad that played in the NBA for a few years in the 70's. Kevin Love had huge buzz coming out of high school and spent one season at UCLA, where he helped guide them to the Final Four before losing to Memphis, although the NCAA will tell you that Memphis did not really win because Derrick Rose did something. Anyways, Love was drafted high and ended up on the Timberwolves joining a team in its 3rd season without Kevin Garnett that was not good. Love ended his 6 seasons in Minnesota after making the all-star team 3 times, winning the Most Improved Player Award in 2010, making 2nd team All-NBA twice, and consistently being at the top of the league in rebounds and even top 10 in scoring for two seasons. All this ended when Lebron James joined Cleveland and pulled the strings for Kevin Love to be sent to Cleveland in exchange for Andrew Wiggins and some other stuff. Now, Kevin Love gets no respect much like Aquaman.
I mentioned Aquaman's awesomeness in many ways, but I think part of his lack of respect was in the presentation. He wears an orange thing with green pants and green gloves. He looks awful. I have a feeling that Aquaman's popularity will change after the Justice League film with Jason Momoa comes out. Anyways, Kevin Love went from being considered one of the top 10 players in the league to now people openly stating that they do not think he can play. He is asked to fill a role in Cleveland. To watch Kevin Love play in Rick Adelman's offense in Minnesota was a thing of beauty. They ran the offense through him and his passing ability was on full display. He became such an offensive weapon for them. In Cleveland, you can watch and see that in the 1st quarter they feed him the ball in the post and for the rest of the game he is relegated to the corner, where he has become a deadly shooter, but given the chance to roam free he could still be a force. This is why in many ways, I want Cleveland to blow it up. I want to see Kevin Love back where he is the guy that runs the offense. I want to see him rebound and throw outlet passes. I want to see him catch the ball at the free throw line and immediately find back door cutters. Sadly, Kevin Love will continue to be Aquaman. Forgotten and disrespected because he stands next to Superman. Listen, Kevin Love is no Lebron, but he could be more than he is. The Cavs have been trying to trade Kevin Love for almost the entire time he has been a Cavs player and I am hoping that they make it happen and he can get back to being a respected NBA player again in the same way that Aquaman deserves to be respected.