Kevin Love gets hit in face, gets no help from Jae Crowder (Video)

The Cleveland Cavaliers have made Kevin Love the scapegoat again, and Jae Crowder followed that lead on the floor Tuesday night.

As the Cleveland Cavaliers go through another January downturn, a reportedly heated meeting on Monday had Isaiah Thomas calling out Kevin Love. An illness took Love out of a bad loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder last Saturday and he missed practice Sunday, so he became the target.

Thomas should not be the one to call out someone else’s effort, especially on the defensive end of the floor, leaving aside the fact he’s also new to the team. But Love has been made a scapegoat for the Cavaliers’ struggles before, with LeBron James going passive aggressive to do so.

The Cavaliers lost for the sixth time in the last seven games Tuesday night, to a depleted San Antonio Spurs’ squad. Love got hit and fell to the floor in the third quarter, and while he may not have needed to fall to the floor that way, Jae Crowder clearly had no interest in helping Love up as he made his way to inbound the ball after a basket.

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Little things like not helping a teammate up are perceived as signs of dislike for that player, or at the very least a sign of disrespect. It’s safe to assume Crowder had little role in calling Love out on Monday, as a newer player on the team himself. But James takes the lead in these kind of things, was probably the “source” that let it out that Love was singularly called out during that team meeting, and no one wants to upset “The King.”

Next: 5 trade for the Cavaliers to make LeBron James happy

Trade rumors surrounding Love will be rekindled now, and both sides might be better for it. Love may even want out of Cleveland, and no one would blame him. But if Love is gone and drama hits the Cavaliers again, who will James lead the blame train toward?