Kevin Love Once Saved a Friend's Life in College

The story of Kevin Love's heroics is incredible.

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Complex Original

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The Sports Illustrated 2016-17 NBA preview is here, and it has not disappointed. With Lee Jenkins, one of the best sports feature writers alive, crafting pieces on Russell Westbrook and Kevin LoveSI has given us some amazing sports narratives this week.

The lede and conclusion of Jenkins' piece on Love share an incredible true story: how the Cavaliers' power forward once saved a friend's life in college. 

The friend, Tyler Kandel, was a water polo player at UCLA, where Love played basketball for one season (2007-08). It was September of 2008, as Love was preparing for his first season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, when Kandel stared death in the face.

The two friends, accompanied by former UCLA basketball player Josh Shipp, were headed to a party. Shipp and Kandel carried 40-ounce bottles of Olde English malt liquor. Kandel playfully wound up to kick Shipp's bottle, but he slipped. During the slip, Kandel's bottle shattered. The glass slit his wrist.

“I could see inside my hand, inside my wrist,” Kandel told SI. “The artery was split wide open.”

So, what did Love do? He assured his friend he wasn't going to die. Then he sprung into action.

"Kandel was wearing a black T-shirt, and Love tore it from his chest," Jenkins writes. "Love’s mother, Karen, worked as a nurse at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland when he was growing up. He had never made a tourniquet, but he had seen it done before. Kandel yowled as Love tied the shirt into a knot around his wrist."

As an ambulance rushed Kandel to a hospital, EMTs told Kandel Love had saved his life. He could have bled to death.

That's just one of the many fascinating stories in this feature. Also interesting: Love details how he stopped Stephen Curry in the final minute of Game 7 (and compares himself to a Will Ferrell character); Tyronn Lue sheds some interesting light on the flack fans and pundits have given Love; and Jenkins explains how Love, LeBron, and the Cavs used Steve Jobs as motivation to win the title.

Read the whole thing here.

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