On a glossy basketball court in front of an electric crowd, Kevin Love felt like he was going to die. It was November 5, 2017—a game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks. Love was coming up on a decade in the NBA, so carrying the pressures and anxieties of pro game was nothing new for the basketball star. But on that night, something shifted—and Love needed an out.
“I ran back to our locker room. My heart rate had gone very high,” Love recently told Men’s Health about the 2017 game. “I couldn’t really get any thoughts through my brain about what was happening. It was unlike any experience that I had ever had.”
He added: “I didn’t understand if I was having cardiac arrest, or if I was having an episode with my heart with my brain.”
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Love, who was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers at the time, ended up in the Cleveland Clinic later that night. There, Love learned he had a severe panic attack during the game. At that time, the basketball pro didn’t even realize panic attacks were a thing. The thought of one completely leveling him during a game was practically unfathomable.
“This happened in a place where I’ve made my livelihood,” he said. “In a place where I gained my first love, and that was the basketball court. And it also happened in a very public setting around teammates, coworkers and people that I love.”
In the aftermath, Love feared for his career, his health, his public persona. But instead of burying it all inside, he decided to face the issue head-on. He decided to heal.
“Sometimes, it takes a moment like that in order to get to a place to say, ‘I am not in a good place. I’m really going through something right now and I need help,” Love said, adding, “I think that was the most important thing that happened as a result of it — and ultimately why we’re here speaking today”
During a recent episode of Men’s Health’s Instagram Live series Friday Sessions, Love discussed his experiences with mental health and the importance of accepting help for mental health concerns. In conversation with Friday Sessions host Dr. Gregory Scott Brown, the star Miami Heat forward shared his journey since that 2017 day. Since then, he’s become a vocal advocate for mental health in professional sports and beyond.
Why Love Started Talking About Mental Wellness
Love first shared his story publicly in a 2018 article in The Players’ Tribune titled “Everyone Is Going Through Something.” The decision to go public with his story was both Love’s own decision and one spurred by relentless speculation.
“For me, it was—more than anything—about not wanting anybody else to tell my story,” he said during the IGL conversation, now some five years later. “As [teammates and players] continued to ask questions and media members started asking me questions, I thought to myself, ‘OK, it’s time for me to not only help myself and pen this first-person article but also to help that next person.’”
But being vulnerable about his struggles didn’t come naturally to Love. Like many men, he was used to keeping his emotions and battles private—something he was taught to value in other men.
“I celebrated [men] who beat their emotions into submission. I thought that was the way that you were supposed to do it,” he said. “Now, I look at [vulnerability] as like a superpower. It’s been a strength of mine. It’s like, ‘I’m going to own my story. You can’t use me against me. This is what I go through.’”
The desire to help others through his experience is also what inspired Love to start the Kevin Love Fund, a non-profit focused on mental health education, research, and advocacy.
“This is something that doesn’t discriminate,” Love said about mental illness. “And it’s amazing that we’re continuing to beat down the stigma and have these tough conversations that are extremely healthy to have.”
Why Talking About It Helps
While Love has these “tough conversations” on a public scale through his advocacy, he also has them on a more private level through therapy to keep his mental health in check.
“Therapy has truly changed my life,” he said during Friday Sessions. “For me, it has been so huge to have a therapist and somebody that I can really rely on to get out ahead of it. You know, not wait for something to happen in order to start doing the work.”
Love says this public and private vulnerability has helped him become a better player, person, husband, father and more. And he’s quick to encourage other men to become more open with their emotions and struggles.
“Like I said many times, nothing haunts us like the things we don’t say,” he said. “So, you know, lay it out there. You’re going to be better off for it.”
While Love has grown and evolved through his mental health journey, so has the NBA. With encouragement from Love and other player advocates, the league has put more of an emphasis on mental health in recent years, with teams offering access to mental health professionals on a team and individual level.
“I think it’s going to continue to evolve. I think we’re in the early stages within the NBA. But the intention is there from each and every team,” Love said. “Each team runs and operates in a different way. But the intention certainly there from both sides as it relates to mental health and taking care of the mind.”
Though it’s been long road since November 5, 2017, Love is using his experience and platform to push the conversation around mental health forward. And he’s still doing his own personal work along the way.
“I’m not perfect. There’s a lot of work to do and I don’t have all the answers,” he said. “But, you know, it’s something that I’ll continue to fight for.”
See the full conversation with Love here:
Katie Dupere is an editor and writer in New York City specializing in identity, internet culture, social good, lifestyle and beauty topics.
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