Kevin's Not In Love With The Wolves

Wizards v/s Timberwolves 03/05/11 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It's not unusual for people to whine and gripe about their jobs, how management treats them, how underpaid they are, etc.  It's usually done over a few beers or cocktails with either your significant other, or your buddies down at the local watering hole.  Those who aren't currently employed would love to have those kinds of problems right now, instead of wondering where their next meal is coming from.

When someone like Kevin Love, who plays professional basketball for a living, wanted to whine and gripe about his job, he chose to do it with a reporter from Yahoo Sports.

In a lengthy interview released this week, Love ripped into Minnesota Timberwolves management for giving him a four-year contract (for which he can opt out of in 2015) instead of the five years he wanted, accusing them of saving it for teammate Ricky Rubio.  Love also wanted to know why the Wolves are dragging their feet when it comes to building a playoff-caliber team around him.

Love's just stating the obvious.  He was embarrassed to be the only member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team who has yet to play in the NBA playoffs.  And the Wolves have been surrounding Love with somebody else's castoffs and European imports, with mixed results.

Love's comments have been rubbing Wolves fans the wrong way, especially when they remember how Sam Cassell, Stephon Marbury and Latrell Sprewell (among others) whined their way out of Minnesota.  And Kevin Garnett didn't exactly leave under the best circumstances, either.  It's also no secret that Love is angling to someday join a certain team in Los Angeles, and it's not the Clippers.

With all that going on, it might surprise you to learn that, in spite of injuries to nearly everyone on the roster including Love and Rubio, the Wolves have a record above .500 in the first few weeks of the 2012-13 NBA season.  Their record as of this post is 10-9 after defeating the Denver Nuggets at Target Center 108-105 on December 12.  Love, it should be noted, scored eight points that night.

Love's ready to make nice after the firestorm his comments created.  He still stands by what he said, but now believes the Wolves really are headed in the right direction.  And he's even talking about how much he likes playing with Rubio.

What must concern Kevin Love is that he has something in common with Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin of the Vikings, and Joe Mauer of the Twins (We'd count the Wild, but they're not playing right now.):  They're the best players whose talents are being wasted on Minnesota pro sports teams that are going nowhere fast.