Am I an insensitive jerk?

[AbeVigodaLive]

I was surprised Kevin Love didn't play.

- He was paid $180k for last night's game. An important game for a team that needs every victory.
- It is the only game the team has this week... until Tuesday.
- It was his grandmother.

I know everybody grieves differently. And I know it's only a "game." But I was still surprised he didn't play. Was the funeral on a Saturday night? Wouldn't Love have better access than 99.999% of the population to get back and forth from Oregon in the shortest amount of time as possible?

Call me heartless. Or a jerk. But I was surprised he didn't play... and it would be hard to claim I'm an over-the-top, knee-jerk reactionary on this forum. Maybe we've just become accustomed to athletes playing through deaths to loved ones. Maybe we have developed an unhealthy expectation about it.

But if there was ever a situation that called for a player being able to grieve AND play... last night sure seemed like it.

Or am I missing something?

[Coolbreeze44]

I don't think you are being unreasonable for questioning this, and I'm glad you brought it up. I'm also surprised he couldn't make it work. He wasn't a guy who was raised by his grandparents. But like you pointed out, everybody grieves differently. One of those things we just have to accept.

[BloopOracle]

no one here has any idea how close they were

[mjs34]

I thought I heard that she lived right next door to him growing up. Regardless, it is a lot different for the average guy to go to work when it is in the same city, but something completely different when it is 2000 miles away. It also may be about being there for his mother.

[Henry Huggins [enjin:7977062]]

wow is this a thread? get out of here with that.

[observerII [enjin:6598557]]

Grandmothers only come in, usually, twos; Wolves losses comes in high multiples. Case closed.

[bleedspeed]

I am fine with him missing the game. A life is more important then a game.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Hypothetical question for those on this thread who are giving Love a free pass on not earning his $180,000 last night:

What if last night had been the 7th game of the NBA finals? Would you still be fine with Kevin missing the game?

[Henry Huggins [enjin:7977062]]

Hypothetical question for those on this thread who are giving Love a free pass on not earning his $180,000 last night:

What if last night had been the 7th game of the NBA finals? Would you still be fine with Kevin missing the game?

There is more to life than basketball man. If he misses game 7, it was that important to him.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Hypothetical question for those on this thread who are giving Love a free pass on not earning his $180,000 last night:

What if last night had been the 7th game of the NBA finals? Would you still be fine with Kevin missing the game?

There is more to life than basketball man. If he misses game 7, it was that important to him.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, Henry...I'm on the fence on this one. But if basketball isn't that important, why does Kevin make the absurd amount of $180,000 for two hours of work (or, not work, in the case of last night). The answer is because that's what the marketplace bears, and the marketplace is telling us that pro basketball is very important. I feel bad for anyone that loses their grandparent, but I also feel bad for the working man who bought tickets well over face value on stubhub that he couldn't really afford, hoping to see our first victory ever over LeBron, and then realizing that we had no chance in the game.

And as Abe asked, do we think the funeral was on Saturday night? Doubtful. I don't begrudge Kevin wanting to spend time with his family, but he didn't handle it the way I would have. I would have chartered an airplane from Mexico City to Portland as soon as the game was called off (it's not like money is an issue for him), spent Thursday and Friday with my family, and flown home in time for the game. Life is about multiple obligations and they are all important. Like I said, I'm not saying Kevin made a poor choice and it doesn't make me respect him or like him any less, but I think he missed a chance to honor his obligation to both his family and his fans.