Dwyane Wade expresses regret for challenging Cavs’ Kevin Love during his private mental health battle

By Jason Simpson
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: August 6, 2021

Former Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Dwyane Wade recently went into detail about his rocky past with Kevin Love.

Wade was very apologetic about an incident in which he went after Love when the two were teammates on the Cavs. At the time, Wade didn’t know that Love was dealing with mental health issues.

“I had an incident in Cleveland with Kevin Love where I didn’t know that he dealt with or suffered from any mental health issues,” Wade said during a recent podcast appearance. “I was on him, because I’m an old dude trying to—this is my last ride to win a championship, and I didn’t know what he was dealing with mentally. So we had a very ugly incident as a team that happened that came out in the papers and all those things about it, and then once I left Cleveland, Kevin became more outspoken and became really a voice for mental health. And I didn’t have any idea.”

Wade talked about what he would say if he were ever to see Love again.

“Kevin Love may not like me as a person because of that moment, but if I ever got the opportunity to see him again, I’d just want to apologize to him because I didn’t know what he was dealing with, and I was just trying to say, ‘We need you, we need you,’ but I didn’t know that he was dealing with something that was so serious that I could not fathom or even know what he had to deal with,” Wade continued.

Wade ultimately spent just 46 games with the Cavs, but it was long enough for him to make his presence felt. While his stint with the team was rocky, many Cavaliers fans thought it was a treat to see an NBA legend like Wade playing in Cleveland.

Wade and Love are both nice success stories, and both players are NBA champions.

Love helped guide the Cavs to an NBA title in the 2015-16 season. That year, he averaged 16.0 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He was also a key player throughout the postseason run.

As for Wade, he retired with three NBA championships. He is widely regarded as one of the most talented players to step foot on an NBA court this century.