MINNEAPOLIS — Contract negotiations can bring out the worst in sports. They're a reminder that this is more than a game, that these men and women are being paid more in one year than most people are in a lifetime. They can turn affable stars terse and make coaches despondent.
The past week has not been fun for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But in some instances, such negotiations can bring out a better side of sports, something that transcends a towering dunk or a behind-the-back pass. They can reveal a player's commitment to a place, his investment with a team and its fans. On Wednesday, Minnesota got that investment from Kevin Love.
The four-year, $60 million-plus contract Love has agreed to sign didn't come without its casualties. The team, or Love, or Love's agent, Jeff Schwartz — someone — made this linger to the 11th hour, a practice that has become habit in the world of Minnesota basketball. In 2002, the Timberwolves waited until the last second to sign Wally Szczerbiak, and then in 2007 it did the same with Al Jefferson. But even if that's just the way the organization functions, try explaining it to a young team that's seeing the clock tick even closer to more uncertainty about its leader.
Over the past few days, a Timberwolves team with a three-game winning streak morphed into a preoccupied, injured bunch with two straight losses. Love himself was the picture of stress, sniffling and wheezing on Monday night and silent on Tuesday. Coach Rick Adelman could only shake his head, knowing all too well the effects doubt could have on his young team.
Love's contract isn't a cure. Players are still injured, and the team still has a 7-10 record. Love's cold may linger in Dallas, but, undoubtedly, a weight has been lifted. Adelman can feel like a coach in charge of his team once again, which is crucial for the system and the mentality of success he's trying to implement. The contract doesn't solve anything, but it allows these Timberwolves, who seem to be on the brink of bigger things ahead, to keep thinking that a solution is possible.
Even if Love hadn't signed, if he had become a restricted free agent at the end of the season, the Timberwolves could have matched any other team's offer. There's a good chance he'd have stayed with Minnesota, but there's an even greater chance nothing would have ever been quite the same.
He still would have been one of the top power forwards in the league. He still would have sunk 3s and made the occasional dunk, and he still would have notched double-doubles like they're just a routine part of each game. But something would have been lost. Love would no longer have been Minnesota's golden boy. The sentiment that he cares about the franchise, that he's willing to give everything to see it win, might have eroded a bit. He would have been something closer to just another basketball player, one who quibbled over a couple million dollars, one who tried to escape.
There would have been the constant murmurs in late April of "Is that his last 3 at the Target Center? His last rebound? His last dunk?" It's not something fans want to go through, and it's not something they forget.
So this contract is important not only for what the Timberwolves gained — four more years with the face of their team, of a dynamic offensive presence that's almost taken for granted — but for what they avoided. Love remains the darling of Minnesota basketball, and Timberwolves president David Kahn and owner Glen Taylor get to be heroes — for a day, or a week, or even longer if Love leads the Timberwolves out of their losing cycle.
As much as Wednesday was about a player securing his future, it was just as much about a team and a city. It's less about Love as a man and more about the opportunities he represents. Because even if the Timberwolves never win a championship or a playoff series with Love, no one can say they didn't try.
Follow Joan Niesen on Twitter
