NBA notebook: Love opens up about in-game panic attack
Kevin Love said he experienced a panic attack during a game in November that caused him to address his mental health.
The Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star forward wrote in an article published by The Players Tribune on Tuesday that he went to the hospital with shortness of breath and stomach pain on Nov. 5. The Cavaliers were playing at the Atlanta Hawks, and Love left the game in the third quarter.
"It came out of nowhere. I'd never had one before," Love wrote. "I didn't even know if they were real. But it was real -- as real a broken hand or a sprained ankle. Since that day, almost everything about the way I think about my mental health has changed."
Love later left a game in January that prompted a challenge from teammates as to the legitimacy of what was described by the Cavaliers only as an "illness." According to reports, several players immediately questioned Love over his status and held a team meeting.
--Steve Kerr has an idea about how to solve the NCAA's one-and-done conundrum. The Golden State Warriors coach suggested allowing players who have declared for the NBA draft that go undrafted to have the option to return to school the next year.
"One of the things the NCAA needs to look at is, if a kid signs with an agent and he doesn't get drafted, welcome him back," Kerr told reporters via ESPN.com. "Why not? What's the harm? We talk about amateurism and all this stuff, but if you're truly trying to do what's right for the kid, and the kid declares for the draft and doesn't get drafted, you know what? Welcome him back. Do something good for the kids."
If a player declares for the NBA draft and does not withdraw his name by a certain date or if he has already signed with an agent, the NCAA currently does not allow them to return to their school. ESPN reports that the NBA is considering changing its one-and-done policy that prohibits its teams from drafting players straight out of high school.
--The NBA announced that it has fined Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart a total of $15,000 for his comments criticizing officiating after the team's loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Smart, who missed a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer of the 123-120 loss in Houston, suggested that the league gives favorable calls to Rockets star and MVP candidate James Harden.
"When you're playing a guy like that who gets those types of calls, it's pretty much like you're playing in foul trouble," Smart told the Boston Globe. "You've got to play really certain. You have to play really solid. You can't really play the defense that you want, because you know nine times out of 10 he's going to get those calls."
--Field Level Media
