Kevin Love was set on re-signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers as free agency began on July 1st, 2015.
"A lot of teams called, but I've never really even considered," Love said. "I've been saying it the whole time, that time when you become a free agent, there's something to be said for, 'Man, I can go wherever I want, live wherever I want, be close to my family if I want.' But this was a situation where the first year is always the hardest.
"I knew that we were going to be able to compete for a championship every single year. I had met with LeBron [James] directly after that, just picked his brain. Asked him what he thought about where we were going in the future. You know 12:01 a.m. on July 1 came around and [Cavaliers' General manager David] Griffin and I were on the phone and I signed on the ninth."
Love didn't grant other teams even a phone conversation.
"Truth be told, I didn't even talk them really," he said. "Teams have reached out to my agent, but as far as getting on the phone with anybody, the only person I got on the phone with was Griff right when he called me at 12:01. That's what people don't understand that when I say that it was really done, it was really done."
Love said there wasn't another situation where he could have as high of a chance of winning as Cleveland.
"The thought had crossed my mind, but there was no situation that was going to allow me to win basketball games like this one, " Love said. "Yeah, I could have gone places and averaged 30 or 25 [points] and 15 [rebounds] or whatever it might have been, but coming here I would still be able to play my game. I knew in season two things would be better. And I think a lot can be said for how well this team gets along and how close we all are."
