Kevin Love vs. expectations

Expectations, that is, to rescue basketball from the hip-hop culture. That's the theme of this article on Slate.

I find Slate interesting because even though it's fairly liberal, the articles and columns usually look at things from a unique perspective. I think the author here takes things a little far (People really think these things about Love? There is really that much angst about showboating? It's not 1975.), but then I also don't pay much attention to the mainstream sports media, so he may be right.

The quotes from unnamed NBA scouts were what I liked best:

"He is really unique," he said. "You don't find that combination of brute force, passing, shooting, and nondefense." The scout keeps a record of players to whom Love has been compared by other hoops observers. None, he found, was particularly satisfying: Unseld, David West, Sean May, Shelden Williams, Bill Walton, Jason Collins.

"He is a freak," the scout said, adding that Love's uniqueness makes him extraordinarily difficult to project as a pro.