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What's the story?
Bleacher Report is reporting on an essay that Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love posted on The Player's Tribune. He reveals that it was a panic attack that led to his abrupt departure from the November 5th game against the Atlanta Hawks.
In case you didn't know...
Kevin Love is currently in his 10th season in the NBA and the fourth with Cleveland. He was drafted fifth overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, and his draft rights were traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal that involved several players and the third overall pick that year, O.J. Mayo.
The heart of the matter
Love mentioned that for 29 years of his life, he thought mental illness was the problem of someone else. He knew that talking about it benefited some people with a mental illness, but didn't believe that it was the way for him to cope with it, and then came the panic attack.
Love would detail the exact moment that he needed to be pulled from the game:
"When I got to the bench, I felt my heart racing faster than usual. Then I was having trouble catching my breath. It's hard to describe, but everything was spinning, like my brain was trying to climb out of my head. The air felt thick and heavy. My mouth was like chalk."
Love would then make his way back to the locker room and detail what the attack felt like:
"I was running from room to room, like I was looking for something I couldn't find. Really I was just hoping my heart would stop racing. It was like my body was trying to say to me, 'You're about to die.' I ended up on the floor in the training room, lying on my back, trying to get enough air to breathe."
On Tuesday afternoon, Love would post on Twitter thanking everyone for the support in the wake of the essay being published publicly earlier in the day...
Love was originally afraid that talking about his mental illness would show weakness and affect his play on the court, but he learned that talking about it is not a sign of weakness.
Through 48 games this season, Love is averaging 17.9 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game for the Cavs who are third in the Eastern Conference, 8.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors.
What's next?
The Cleveland Cavaliers (37-26) will travel to take on the Denver Nuggets (35-28) Wednesday evening. This game will be the second of a doubleheader on ESPN.
Author's take
I think that it is great for Kevin to write this essay, and I'm glad that he realized that it doesn't show weakness to talk about mental illness. I can tell from his Twitter post from this afternoon that he was definitely taken aback from the support he received, and I even made sure to send him my own message thanking him for sharing his story.
