There are many reasons not to watch the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The franchise traded Kevin Garnett in 2007, was at the bottom of the league last year and drafted three point guards a year ago – one who is so bad that he was relegated to the Sioux Falls Sky Force for part of this season, one who is still playing in Spain and one who has flourished off the bench and is about to earn a starting role…for another team (the Denver Nuggets, a division rival).
This is a team that consistently mismanages drafts, trades and playoff opportunities. However, there remains one very compelling reason to pay careful attention to the Wolves: Kevin Love.
Kevin Love is putting up the best rebounding numbers since Moses Malone in the 1982-83 season.
In 2010-11, he is a superior rebounder to Dennis Rodman, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard.
He averages 15.5 rebounds per game, and is set to record his 44th straight double-double of the year.
There are several motivations to watch Love play this year. First, he may not be in a Timberwolves uniform for long; his contract expires in the next few years, and he possesses the exact skill- and mind-set that would propel a team on the verge of contention into elite status – imagine Love pulling down rebounds for the OKC Thunder, throwing outlets to Kevin Durant, and then hitting open threes within the flow of the offense.
These "on-the-brink" teams will covet Love when his contract expires. Second, he does not just rebound, like Rodman on Jordan's Bulls; rather, he scores as well, and he does so without dominating the ball or requiring plays called for him.
He shoots a high percentage on threes and has a respectable low-post game.
Finally, we should appreciate Love's willingness to rebound, the most unselfish of statistics, in an age when Kobe Bryant gets compared to Michael Jordan after scoring 81 points in a game (with only two assists; if there's high comedy in sports, this stat-line is it); in an era when LeBron James is called the King after doing…well…nothing; in a league where the T-Wolves once sported players like Stephon Marbury, Ricky Davis and Antoine Walker, Kevin Love represents exactly what is right about the game of basketball. Watch now – he may not be in ‘Sota for long.
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this article!