Heat's Kevin Love feels the love in return to Cleveland, where he won an NBA title with Cavs in 2016

CLEVELAND — Kevin Love felt Cleveland's deep love once again. Now with Miami, Love returned to face the Cavaliers on Wednesday night for the first time since signing with the Heat two years ago and was warmly received by fans who will never forget his impact in Cleveland. The 36-year-old Love spent nine seasons with the Cavs and was a major factor in the team winning the 2016 NBA championship — the first major sports title for a Cleveland team since 1964. No longer in the rotation under coach J.B. Bickerstaff, Love accepted a buyout in 2023 to sign with Miami. A five-time All-Star, Love received a roaring ovation during a video tribute in the first quarter. The montage of highlights included Love's defense on Golden State superstar Stephen Curry in the closing seconds of Game 7 of the '16 Finals. The Cavs rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the series to stun the Warriors, the first such comeback in NBA Finals history. Love saluted the crowd by pointing to his ring finger. Following Cleveland's 112-107 win, Love said his return was everything he could have hoped. "It was certainly emotional," he said. "My wife and I had talked about it last night and today. Cleveland and Ohio and this organization will always mean a lot to me. I'll always come back. ... Just a lot of love for so many people here. "All the way from the training staff to the players, to the organization, front office, ownership, fans, the locker room attendants, all the security guards, people that work the garage here. Just so much love for so many that'll just keep me coming back. I just can't say enough good things about overall the fans here, but the people here as well." Before tip-off, Love caught up with former Cavs teammate Richard Jefferson, who was on ESPN's broadcast team for the game. He also spent time chatting with Cleveland general manager Koby Altman and Cavs guard Max Strus, whom he played with briefly in Miami. "He's a special dude," Strus said. "I was lucky to cross paths with him in my career. It was cool to see them honor him like that. He deserves all of it." Love said he's been told his jersey will one day be retired to hang in the rafters in Rocket Arena. That magical summer of nearly 10 years ago remains vivid to Love, who texts regularly with his former Cleveland teammates. "You say the word brotherhood, you win together," he said. "That's what it creates, especially in the fashion that we did it and against a team that was really a dynasty and coming back from 3-1 and what it meant to this city after 52 years and not having a major sports championship. "It's tough to put into words what that means to all of us and we're coming up on 10 years now, which is crazy to think. That's incredibly meaningful. It's something I think about every single day." Although Love now is primarily a contributor off the bench, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra praised his selflessness and said he has been invaluable while serving as a mentor to rookie center Kel'el Ware and forward Nikola Jovic. "A lot of vets don't really want to accept that kind of role and that kind of transition and he has been able to do that gracefully," Spoelstra said. "Those kind of guys are really necessary in this league. I wish there were more vets that would embrace that because with a younger league I think you do need that kind of mentorship, guys that can still do it, that can still play but then have that emotional stability to also pave room for a guy like Ware and Jovic. "He sacrificed his minutes for their development and that speaks a lot to his character."