-Welcome to the show. -Appreciate you having me.
Let's start with the most important question
or statement that I have, and that is,
how was your birthday two days ago?
Happy birthday. You feeling, uh...? You feeling good?
-(applause and cheering) -I'm feeling good. -Yeah?
I just turned 30, so, uh, I'm still recovering.
-As you can hear, my voice is gone a little bit. -Right.
But I was told, in your 30s,
you stop recovering as fast, so...
-Is that something you...? -I'm working on it.
-Oh. -You were celebrating with LeBron James.
-I saw that online. -I was.
You guys were, like, hanging out together.
I was. Went to a couple...
couple of fashion shows together, and then,
uh, you know, had a couple drinks in Dumbo.
Is that not too much for people to handle--
like, just the two...? 'Cause, like, if I see somebody
who's mega famous in the streets,
I can be like, "Is that... is that...?
But if you walk with LeBron, it's the two of you.
-It is the two of us. -Like, it's... That's-that's traffic.
But also, LeBron-- he's not really a person.
He's more of a planet. He just absorbs
and takes everything with him.
So, he has a, uh...
Yeah, a lot of people follow him. He's hard to miss.
And... but he's a lot of fun
-to, uh, I guess have a glass of vino with. -Right.
And going into that--
like, you just secured a big money deal
-to stay in Cleveland, right? -Yeah.
And now you've become the face of this... of this franchise.
Like, you inherited a really powerful legacy
that you have to move forward.
I don't know what that's like,
but, like, do you think you can do it?
(laughter)
Absolutely. I feel like everything
leading up to this point,
especially my six years I spent in Minnesota,
-not having a ton of veterans... -Right.
we had the youngest team in the league for a couple years--
heading into a situation in Cleveland
where we were expected to win a championship.
LeBron had signed back with the team
in the 2014-2015 season.
They had traded for me.
And we were expected to win a championship every single year.
So now, heading into a new era, it's gonna be...
It's gonna be a challenge.
You lose the best player in the world.
But I think a lot of the guys are very excited for the...
not only the opportunity, but the challenge
-in growing something. -Right, and
when you went to China--
I don't know if this is a true story or not--
-I heard that your luggage had been, like, tagged. -Yeah.
And they'd tagged your luggage.
When you got to China, it said, "LeBron James."
And I... Yeah. I posted a video
on-on social media and said-- uh, on "my story" on Instagram--
and said, "I can't get away from him."
He said, "Hey."
He said, "Hey, brother, you're stuck with me forever."
-So, I appreciate that... -Right.
...but it was just... You know, I wasn't able
to get away from him, even when he signed for the Lakers.
It's gonna be a really exciting journey
for both the Cavs.
I mean, you're a different team.
Also, because you have the ring,
-so there's a different atmosphere to the... -Right.
...to the whole franchise.
But you're also a person who's on a journey in multiple ways.
I mean, you have this, which is enough
for most people to have as an undertaking.
But then, you also have a fashion label
that you were working with.
-You're working with Banana Republic... -I am.
-...designing clothes? -Designing clothes.
I actually have my own capsule collection
coming out September 18, and this is...
This is part of it here.
This is actually my favorite tote jacket... leather jacket.
-Wait. So you're wearing your clothes right now? -I am.
I'm wearing my... my clothes right now.
-(applause and cheering) -Stand up and spin for us.
Stand up and spin. Stand up and spin.
-We want to see it. Wow. -(applause and cheering swell)
That's-that's... Wait. So...
Like, I've read some of the things you have, right?
Like, some of the items they talk about.
The collection includes, like,
-motion-stretch topcoat. -Yes.
Pinstripe motion-stretch suit.
Plaid cotton wool suit. Performance stretch wool.
Like, this seems like a lot of stuff
that's geared to somebody who, like,
plays basketball and works out.
-Like, there's a lot of stretch happening here. -It is.
But it's also very easy for what we do to travel with.
-Right. -We're away, and we're traveling for 41 away games
out of our 82, and then hopefully we make the playoffs,
-Right, right, right. -and then we have to have
even more of that going on.
So no, it's very fun to have made the collection.
It was over probably a year and a half of putting this together.
There was a lot of legwork and things behind the scenes
that went on, but very proud of it,
and I'm excited for all you guys to see on September 18.
-Did you just... did you just... -(cheering, applause)
Did you... did you really want to design clothes
for other people, or did you just trick Banana Republic
into making clothes for you?
'Cause I feel like you were just like, "Uh, the people also want
"stretch pants for when they're traveling.
"You know what's really cool after a big game?
"People want to wear a bomber jacket,
or people want a leather jacket, or..."
No, you were really involved in the design, right?
I was really involved with the design, which was...
What was fun was that, in the creative process,
I made a bunch of tear sheets,
I, you know, I was going on Pinterest,
doing a lot of primitive things
-in order to get the collection together, but... -Right.
when we were in the selection process, we put together
an extensive book-- and who's backstage with me
is my stylist Courtney Mays-- we gotta show her some love, too,
'cause mostly... mostly a creative director as well--
-Right, right, right. -so we put together a big book,
an extensive book, that, you know,
probably had 300 pages in it,
and it showed, you know, different architecture,
it showed wine, it showed classic cars,
it showed old movies from the '50s,
just a lot of-- Banana Republic being a classic American brand,
-there was a lot of that going on in there. -Of course.
So that was a lot of fun to do.
And then we got with the team from Banana Republic,
their creative team, and kind of looked at their moods boards,
and we found that it was gonna be fall, so here we are.
That's properly exciting, man. I mean, you have the basketball,
you have the design, and honestly,
one of my favorite things that you've done is,
when you came out and you wrote an essay
on dealing with depression and mental health in the NBA.
I think it was, uh, DeRozan who came out originally,
-Right. -and he said, you know,
"I think we should all be speaking about this,"
and you came out and you spoke.
And I don't know if this has happened to you,
but as someone who's spoken about depression,
there's a lot of people who go, "You? But how...
The you? The you?"
Did you have people go like, "Kevin? Depression?"
and then... and then they were like, "Oh, yeah."
Or were they like, "Kevin, how?"
Well, I think... the sense of community has been
the craziest thing for me of any time in my entire career.
You know, playing ten years in the NBA now,
this is what people see most.
And I mention that because... everywhere that I go,
whether it be men or women, you know, and socioeconomic status,
-sexual preference, anything, it doesn't discriminate. -Right.
And especially, when you mention us,
-people that seemingly, you know, have everything, -Right.
you know, you're in a position that you always wanted to be in,
as athletes, at least for us, we're considered, you know,
superhuman, and people don't even consider
the mental aspect of it, 'cause we have stuff
that are... that's going on as well.
So, um... you know, I saw the Robin Williams documentary
on HBO, I saw, uh, you know, what hap...
Kate Spade and, actually one of my heroes,
Anthony Bourdain, had taken his life in the same week,
and Bryan Cranston, one of my favorite actors,
that came out and said a beautiful quote, he said,
"Success is not immune to depression."
And I found that to, uh, you know, really hit home with me,
because we really are all going through something,
so it's-it's, you know, really great
that not only athletes are talking about it,
but everybody's furthering the conversation
in order to beat down that stigma.
-Definitely. Um... -(applause, cheering)
You didn't...
You didn't start the conversation.
What I admired is, you pushed for the NBA to take action.
-Right. -You know, you could have come out,
which would have still been a big step, and said,
"Hey, I also suffer from depression,
this is how I deal with it," but you also laid out an idea
for the NBA on how they should be dealing with it and why.
What are some of the ideas that you've pushed,
and, you know, has there been support for that
-within the league? -Yeah, there's been a lot of support,
and whether come from, uh, you know, the NBA side,
whether it comes from, you know, even with our community
in Cleveland, our front office,
on the players' side-- you mentioned DeMar DeRozan,
you know, opening the door for myself
and, you know, getting me to a point where I was able
to share my story.
But I think the biggest thing is knowing--
you know, I'm 30 years old now-- that I don't have
all the answers, and lot of people don't.
And whether that's, um, you know, seeing a therapist,
whether it's, you're medicated or not,
finding somebody to talk to, um, you know, finding new ways,
in your line of work or your walk of life
to make an impact of find a way to help other people,
I think that's an ever-evolving process,
but I believe that the NBA is gonna do a great job,
and they have just started on their journey with that as well.
You've just become a next-level superstar
for many people watching, man. Thank you so much
-for being on the show. -I appreciate it. Thank you.
The Banana Republic- Kevin Love collaboration
will be available on September 18.
Kevin Love, everybody!