Kevin Love appears ready to let bygones be bygones when it comes to his relationship with Kelly Olynyk.
Love might still believe the Boston Celtics center intentionally yanked on his left arm during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, but he reportedly no longer is holding his season-ending shoulder injury against Olynyk.
“My experience has consistently been that anger subsides as dollars increase,” David Aldridge wrote Monday on NBA.com, “and I’m told authoritatively that Love holds no long-lasting ill will toward either the Celtics or Olynyk.”
Olynyk’s arm tug — which earned him a one-game suspension — relegated Love to the sidelines for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ second-round series with the Chicago Bulls and any that might follow it, and as of last Thursday, Love had not responded to the young big man’s attempts to apologize.
Much has been made about the play possibly hindering the Celtics’ chances of acquiring Love if he hits free agency this summer, but Aldridge doesn’t seem to buy that argument. Boston can offer the 26-year-old forward a max contract if it so chooses, and while the C’s aren’t close to contending for a title, the NBA on TNT analyst believes they’re set up incredibly well for success in the near future.
“Almost nobody — not the lottery teams, not the teams still in the hunt — is better set up for the next three to five years than the Celtics,” Aldridge wrote.
Thumbnail photo via Russell Isabella/USA TODAY Sports Images
