LeBron James had admired Kevin Love's game for years before he called him in 2014 to convince him to join the Cleveland Cavaliers.

James and Love didn't know each other well before the 2012 Olympics and Love initially thought James was joking with him because of how much praise he was being given.

The Cavaliers had pursued a trade for Love over several seasons, but he had no interest in signing long-term until James signed.

The relationship of actually being teammates was not good initially and team officials now conceded James didn't treat Love very well last season.

Love showed up to camp out of shape and wasn't the player James was expecting. Love's legs and back bothered him all season.

Love approached James in Los Angeles before the start of free agency indicating he wanted a bigger role in the Cavaliers' offense, but it wasn't an ultimatum as he had already decided to re-sign.

“More than anything I just wanted to see what he thought about where the team was going and what we wanted to accomplish,” Love said. “It was always ‘we’ or ‘us.’ It was never like, ‘You need to tell me this.’ Never.”

James listened and was prepared to oblige with Love responding by reporting to camp in excellent shape.

James has called Love the focal point of the offense multiple times this season.

Love has a higher usage rate so far this season at 24.2 compared to 21.6 last season.