Newly-acquired Kevin Love will wear number 42 with the Miami Heat, the team announced.
Kevin Love was averaging 8.5 points on 20 minutes per game with the Cleveland Cavaliers before he was bought out. He wore the number zero with the Cavaliers, the team he won a championship with in 2016.
By wearing number 42 with the Heat, Love returns to the number he wore with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team he started his career with.
This is the first time that Love has averaged less than 10 points per game in his career. However, he hopes to carve out a role for himself with the Heat who currently sit at 32-27. That has them seventh in the Eastern Conference, half a game back of the New York Knicks for sixth. The Heat are hoping to finish in the top six of the Eastern Conference to avoid playing in the play-in tournament.
The Heat needed some front court depth, and adding Love to the power forward depth chart should help that. Despite Love scoring at the lowest rate of his career, he is still shooting from 35.4% from three. That should help space the floor a bit for the Heat.
This move will not singlehandedly make the Heat a top contender in the east, but it could help push them up the standings down the stretch to give them a more favorable playoff seed.
In the meantime, Love's number will illicit nostalgia for NBA fans who followed Love's career since he was with the Timberwolves. Heat fans will hope for the move to vault the team ahead of the Knicks and higher in the Eastern Conference standings.
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