NBA champ, 37, discusses playing an 18th season and why longer careers may become more popular

The sooner Kevin Love retires, the sooner he likely gets into the Hall of Fame, but he wants his basketball career to last as long as possible.

Love, 37, just started his 18th season with his fourth NBA team, the Utah Jazz, and he’s embracing a new role in a new city.

“I love it. And I think that this is a whole different challenge being here. I keep using the term ‘pay it forward’ to the young guys, but it’s gratifying for me to show up every day, and I actually feel very good. Thirty years of organized basketball, my knees might tell me different, but I actually feel really good,” Love told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. 

“I’m not an 82-game guy anymore, but I like to go out there and put my best foot forward, and I love to play the game. Sometimes the business as we’re speaking about can be little — you get traded or contracts come into play. There’s definitely a lot there that is both good and bad, but I love it. The NBA’s been very good to me, so I want to stick around as long as I can.”

 

 

Part of the reason Love still feels good is because of Shift Naturals, a wellness brand Love joked is medical marijuana-adjacent. With zero sugar or alcohol, the brand’s gummies and drinks help him wind down after a long day of practice or being a dad.

“This being my 18th season and my career being built on recovery and consistency, it’s great to have healthy alternatives and ones that actually taste good. It’s made in Oregon, so my backyard, I grew up in Portland, so Bend, Oregon, is near and dear to me, and it’s a team that I trust,” Love said. 

“So, it’s sparkling waters, it’s cocktails and gummies that help people relax and recover and manage stress. I pretty much use it every day. The gummies I typically have after I put my daughter down at night or after a practice or I lift and get this stuff in and after, you know, for hydrating, I typically have the sparkling waters at night just to take a load off unwind from the grind.”

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Shift Naturals are just another part of the sports science world that Love has leaned into to extend his career. He also credits the influx of information over the years — information unimaginable when he began playing — for why players like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are still competing.

“We didn’t have these healthy alternatives when I had come into the league. … Now you have something like Shift, it’s made for a mellow wind-down. It’s nice to have these type of things,” Love said. 

“Sports science, there’s so many different modalities, and longevity is a real thing. You’re seeing guys, not only stay around into 15, 20, 20-plus years in the league, where you have the Steph Currys, the Kevin Durants, the LeBron James that are performing at a very high level still at the later stages in their career. So, again, it’s having things, whether you consume it or it’s hyperbaric or red light or contrast therapy. There’s just so much that is proven now to really push guys into longer careers and healthier careers.

“I wish I was educated and knew more [when I first came into the league]. The why and how it can affect body and mind. That’s why it’s such a testament to those guys. You have to be a little bit lucky, but those guys have managed to stay healthy despite coming into the league when all of this wasn’t at our disposal.”

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Love also made a bold prediction. With all the additional scientific knowledge now available, longer careers will become the norm, coupled with healthier lifestyles off the court, he said.

“I think you’re going to see it more and more — guys playing 15, 20 years in the league because they have all of this. It’s going to be amazing to see these long careers and what people are going to be able to produce or how they’re going to be able to produce for longer and just be better for longer, healthier for longer, long-term after they’re done playing probably feel better in their body. 

“You kill the body, the mind will die. I just think it’ll make for a much more gratifying and fulfilling life just by feeling better every day. Feel like younger parents, younger dads, younger husbands, fathers. It’s going to make for a better life.”

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