Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff recently heaped massive amounts of praise on Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love for each player’s willingness to come off the bench.
Both players had been starters for the majority of their careers entering the 2021-22 season.
“Ricky Rubio is a starting point guard in the NBA,” Bickerstaff said. “There’s no ifs ands or buts about it. Kevin Love is a starter in the NBA, probably first ballot Hall of Famer. Those two guys sacrificing and a willingness to come off the bench and only care about the team, nobody else can say anything. There is no excuse for anybody else to not be willing to do that. Leadership may look different for everybody. But their willingness to sacrifice and still buy in, that’s leadership.”
Rubio and Love certainly deserve a lot of credit for the Cavs’ success so far this season. The team’s second unit has gotten a nice boost thanks to the veterans’ contributions.
So far, Rubio is averaging 14.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists per contest this season. He’s shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from deep.
Love, meanwhile, is averaging 10.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Although he’s shooting just 37.2 percent from the field overall, he has managed to shoot 44.8 percent over his last three games.
The Cavs are on a three-game winning streak, and optimism is high right now. After very few people gave Cleveland a shot to contend for a postseason spot this season, the team is quickly silencing the doubters.
