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Cleveland Cavaliers Star Among the Finalists For the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award

Published 05/20/2020, 2:30 PM EDT

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Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kevin Love is among the final nominations for the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award. ESPN bestows the ESPY Humanitarian awards on the players who create a positive impact on society. This will be the sixth year of the award.

This year’s winner will get $100,000 from ESPN to direct it to a charity of choice. All of the finalists receive $25,000 to direct towards their humanitarian efforts.

Love’s most notable charity this year came after the coronavirus outbreak. When the NBA suspended its league in March, he pledged $100,000 to the Cavaliers arena support staff. He was among several NBA stars who donated money, including Giannis Antetokounmpo and Zion Williamson.

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Other finalists apart from Love include Maya Moore of WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, Nelson Cruz of MLB’s Minnesota Twins, Titus O’Neil of the WWE, plus Devin and Jason McCourty of NFL giants New England Patriots.

The last year’s winner of the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award was former NFL player Chris Long.

Mental health issues for Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kevin Love

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In November 2018, Love opened up about his mental health issues through the Players Tribune. He revealed that he had a panic attack during a game the year before and had been seeing a therapist since.

It was then, he said, that he became aware of mental health issues and depression. Love had never looked at mental issues as real problems until then. However, he has been an advocate for mental health since.

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The Cavaliers star talked about it recently, stressing on how he tries to keep his mind diverted amidst the ongoing pandemic. “The unknown is really what scares us,” Love said while in conversation with USA TODAY Sports earlier this month. “So for me, it’s keeping my mind occupied.

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“We’re all in this together. We need balance and we need to be present. Especially when we come out of this, we should be grateful for so many things that we have. For so many people, this has been an incredibly tough time.”

Love, 31, is currently in his 12th season in the NBA. Will this open a new avenue related to mental health awareness in the NBA?

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Written by:

Saketh Kandadai

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