Modern Moves: Kevin Love’s outlet passes

Not a single NFL quarterback has experimented with two-handed passing.

At least, not yet.

Once Kevin Love has had his fill of the NBA, a second career as a quarterback awaits him. He’ll be the first to throw 30-yard passes with two hands and be as accurate as Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Love’s been throwing two-handed 90-foot outlet passes in the NBA for a decade, hitting tight ends and wide receivers streaking downfield with deadly precision.

Love has transformed the simple act of moving the ball up the court after a defensive rebound into an art form, spraying long balls to his attacking counterparts to unleash a fast break opportunity. LeBron James has been Cristiano Ronaldo to Love’s Xabi Alonso or the Rob Gronkowski to Love’s Brady — the pair connect on long outlet passes with regularity, with perhaps none more famous than James’ game-tying 3-pointer against the Washington Wizards last year:

James’ shot received all the praise, but Love’s ability to take the ball out of the basket and accurately fire it 75-feet to James on the other end of the court made it all possible. There are very few players in the league’s history who could make a pass like this once, much less as regularly as Love does.

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It helps that James is the perfect receiver for Love’s outlet passes. He’s literally built like a tight end and can pretty much catch any pass Love throws in his general vicinity. But Love was doing this well before he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers. In his days in Minnesota, Corey Brewer was often his receiver of choice:

The footwork is everything here. Love catches the ball out of the basket, puts one foot out of bounds and fires the ball to a streaking Brewer for the layup. This wasn’t a one-time thing, either. He looked for this pass consistently:

You rarely see Love make the one-footed inbound pass these days. He’ll still make those passes, just with two feet on the ground, since he no longer possesses the strength and athleticism it took to make those passes in his younger days.

There’s nobody else in the league who makes these passes consistently. The best passing big men will throw it ahead on a rebound whenever they get the chance, but there aren’t any others who look for the outlet as quickly and as frequently as Love does. Even Nikola Jokic, whom many regard as the best passer among centers, doesn’t have the skill Love continues to demonstrate on these long balls over the top of the defense.

Love’s touchdown passes to James immediately became an integral part of the Cavaliers’ offense upon his arrival in 2014:

Love’s rebounding has fallen off slightly since joining the Cavaliers, but every rebound is a chance to find James for a dunk on the other end. In a 2015 interview with the New York Times’ Scott Cacciola, Love explained his thought process behind those famous outlet passes: “If I see LeBron with any sort of advantage…I’m going to throw it.”

Next: The Encyclopedia of Modern Moves

Nobody’s better at creating an advantage than James and nobody’s better at exploiting that advantage than Love. Love barely has to look downcourt before throwing the ball to James; he sees him take off before the shot hits the rim and can immediately launch the ball toward the opponent’s basket upon getting the rebound. For all the issues Love has been through during his time in Cleveland, this is one area in which he’ll never fit out because he and James are always on the same page when it comes to these touchdown passes.