Cleveland Cavaliers big man Kevin Love apparently played on his injured left knee for at least the last week or so.
Before the Cavs faced the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, head coach Tyronn Lue revealed that Love played through the injury for at least three games, including a nationally-televised game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on the second half of a back-to-back.
“It was already (hurt),” Lue said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “Loose bodies were already in there so he just played through it, then after it got to a certain point he got the MRI and found out it was loose bodies floating around.
“He played through it, his knee was swollen a little bit,” Lue went on. “Then he came and got the MRI after that third game, and so, now we have the results.”
Love managed to put up 15.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game in those three games in question but ultimately had to undergo arthroscopic surgery on the knee and was given a relatively lengthy recovery timetable.
Lue’s player management has been a point of contention this season with the workloads he has given to Kyrie Irving (35.2 minutes per game) and LeBron James (37.6, second-most in the league). With this latest revelation that Lue was trotting out a hobbled Love, the concerns will only grow from here.
