Utah Jazz big man Kevin Love did what he’s done for a long time: He posted a meme about the biggest topic in the NBA.
“My whole thing last year was like to bring comedy and relief to tough situations,” the 17-year NBA veteran explained.
Right now, that topic is the shocking FBI arrest of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. Both have been charged with gambling fraud. Rozier allegedly tipped off bettors that he’d be leaving a game early, encouraging them to bet the under on his player props; Billups, meanwhile, allegedly cheated in poker games in cahoots with Mafia crime families from New York.
So Love made a meme, showing Billups and Rozier photoshopped together in the style of the couple who went viral after a Coldplay concert earlier this year.
That prompted a commented response on Instagram from Portland guard Damian Lillard, who called it “weak,” among other choice words. Love and Lillard talked on the phone, and ultimately, Love deleted the post “because we all know they are going through it.”
Love explained the call with Lillard at the Jazz’s morning shootaround on Friday.
“Dame is somebody I’ve known for a long time. I have a lot of respect for. I think his mindset was, and I agree — whether they’re right or wrong in this situation, we don’t know what’s going to happen, right?” Love said. “(They’re) innocent until proven guilty.”
“Although nowadays it’s kind of the other way. Because in the world of public opinion, you’ve already put somebody in a hole, whether they’ve done something right or wrong, they’re guilty until proven innocent. It’s almost flipped.”
Love knows both Rozier and Billups well, he said. Rozier was a Heat teammate of Love’s last season, while Love said Billups helped Love in the beginning of his career.
“I hope that it’s not true. I mean, I saw Terry through a lot of it last year,” Love said. “He’s an Ohio guy. I have a lot of love for Terry and his family.”
“It’s almost like unbelievable, in a way,” Love said. “It just was so unexpected and caught ... all of us, the NBA community and everybody, so off guard. So I think you just wish the best for everybody. You never want to see that.”
Love didn’t apologize for the post, though.
“I think that one particular post was like, ‘Hey, man, this might be a little too far,’” Love finished. “I mean, listen, I love those guys. I thought it was funny. I still think it was funny, but I do understand that not everybody else is going to be with that.”
