Kevin Love Has Funny Moment With Head Coach As Jazz Fans Chant His Name

By all accounts, Kevin Love has enjoyed a successful NBA career. He’s made All-Star appearances, led the league in rebounding, and played a pivotal role in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ storybook-like championship run.

Now, he’s a grizzled 17-year veteran who goes viral without even dribbling a ball or boxing out. After the Utah Jazz’s blowout victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on opening day, a funny moment involving Love and his head coach made the rounds on social media.

This moment happened with 2:24 left in the fourth quarter. With the Jazz holding a comfortable 122–99 lead over the Clippers, chants of “We want Love” resonated inside the Delta Center. Clearly, Jazz fans wanted to get action from the 6-foot-10 center, who hadn’t played a single minute in the game up to that point.

Love’s response? He got up from the bench and covered the ears of head coach Will Hardy.

Fans of Love know full well that the big man is a savant of humor, whether on social media or in person. In this case, Love was sarcastically trying to prevent his coach from caving in to the temptation of letting him play that night.

While this was a hilarious moment indeed, the reality behind Love’s nonappearance in this game may be more complicated. The Jazz have claimed that Love did not play for “personal reasons,” though there have been reports of the five-time All-Star being placed on the trading block.

If the Jazz intend to trade Love sooner or later, they might be trying to preserve the veteran’s health to ensure that any potential deal wouldn’t be jeopardized by his availability. That could explain why Hardy and his coaching staff weren’t budging, regardless of the fan clamor.

Over the years, Love has made a name for himself as a double-double machine, putting up career averages of 16.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. At this stage, though, Love has been relegated to the role of backup center who provides quality minutes off the bench.

The Jazz fanbase, pumped up by the opening-night victory, could very well chant for Love’s name in subsequent games. Maybe, one of these days, Hardy will reciprocate Love’s humor and get him to play for even just a few minutes. Now that would rock the Delta Center to its core.