Kevin Love played alongside LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers for four seasons from 2014 to 2018, and just like so many of his teammates, was blown away by his basketball mind. Love was asked on The Old Man and the Three podcast to name the smartest player he’s played with, and he went with James without hesitation.
“Easy, LeBron,” Love said. “… He’s playing so much damn golf now that I don’t know if he knows everybody’s play, but he was the type of guy that could in shootaround or even out there on the floor like he could do every team scout. He knew every team’s play. He knew every guy’s tendency. He watched endless amount of basketball.”
A fair few opposing players have spoken over the years about James knowing their plays. Most notably, former Toronto Raptors guard Norman Powell recounted him yelling out their plays when they faced off in the playoffs. James tormented the Raptors more than any other team during his time with the Cavaliers, knocking them out of the postseason in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
“It’s a true gift,” Love stated. “He does, in terms of basketball, have a photographic type memory. I mean, you’ve seen some of those press conferences where he’s going back and going through several plays in sequence, and he’s picking out details and players and where he was on the floor and where they were on the floor and what the time and score was of the game. That’s not normal.
“So, I think in seeing it firsthand and up close for so long, it’s not lost on me that that is very special,” Love continued. “And it’s just a hack. Best player in the world. As a 6’8″, 6’9″, 200, I don’t even know, 60-pound freight train is setting the tone in that way. You can’t do anything but try to meet him at that level and be inspired by it.”
James led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in each of his four seasons there. He and Love would win it all in 2016, but they weren’t always on the best of terms those years. There was, of course, that infamous tweet that James sent out back in February 2015.
“Stop trying to find a way to FIT-OUT and just FIT-IN. Be apart of something special! Just my thoughts.”
James initially denied that the tweet was about Love, but later acknowledged it was. The forward had been frustrated by his role on the Cavaliers, and his teammate wanted him to put his ego aside and be a part of something special.
Love has admitted that the tweet hurt his feelings, but all’s well between them now. James even attended his wedding back in 2022.
Getting back to James’ smarts, he once claimed that he could flip a play when he was eight years old. The 41-year-old reckons he was born with a sports IQ.
When you combine smarts with elite athleticism and skill, you get one of the greatest players we have ever seen, which is what James is. Even with his athleticism declining a little bit over the years, his IQ and skill ensured he remained a dominant force on the court for over two decades.
In his 23rd season, James is now averaging 21.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game for the Los Angeles Lakers. He has bounced back from a slow start and just had his second 30-point outing in his last three games on Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
We’ll see James in action next when the Lakers take on the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center on Wednesday at 9:30 PM ET.
