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

The sooner Kevin Love retires, the sooner helium apt gets into the Hall of Fame — but helium wants his hoops vocation to past arsenic agelong arsenic possible.

Love, 37, conscionable started his 18th play with his 4th NBA team, the Utah Jazz, and he’s embracing a caller relation successful a caller city.

"I love it. And I deliberation that this is simply a full antithetic situation being here. I support utilizing the word ‘pay it forward’ to the young guys, but it's gratifying for maine to amusement up each day, and I really consciousness precise good. Thirty years of organized basketball, my knees mightiness archer maine different, but I really consciousness truly good," Love told Fox News Digital successful a caller interview. "I'm not an 82-game feline anymore, but I similar to spell retired determination and enactment my champion ft forward, and I love to play the game. Sometimes the concern arsenic we're speaking astir tin beryllium small – you get traded oregon contracts travel into play, there's decidedly a batch determination that is some bully and bad, but I love it. The NBA's been precise bully to me, truthful I privation to instrumentality astir arsenic agelong arsenic I can."

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Kevin Love of the Utah Jazz dribbles the shot past Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks during the archetypal fractional of the preseason crippled connected Oct. 13, 2025 astatine Delta Center successful Salt Lake City, Utah.  (Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

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Part of the crushed Love inactive feels bully is due to the fact that of Shift Naturals, a wellness marque Love joked is aesculapian marijuana-adjacent. With zero sweetener oregon alcohol, the brand’s gummies and drinks assistance him upwind down aft a agelong time of signifier oregon being a dad.

"This being my 18th play and my vocation being built connected betterment and consistency, it's large to person steadfast alternatives and ones that really sensation good. It's made successful Oregon, truthful my backyard, I grew up successful Portland, truthful Bend, Oregon is adjacent and beloved to me, and it's a squad that I trust," Love said. "So it's sparkling waters, it's cocktails, and gummies that assistance radical unbend and retrieve and negociate stress. I beauteous overmuch usage it each day. The gummies, I typically person aft I enactment my girl down astatine nighttime oregon aft a signifier oregon I assistance and get this worldly successful and after, you know, for hydrating, I typically person the sparkling waters astatine nighttime conscionable to instrumentality a load disconnected unwind from the grind."

Kevin Love of the Utah Jazz looks connected during the archetypal fractional of a hoops crippled against the Charlotte Hornets astatine Spectrum Center connected Nov. 2, 2025, successful Charlotte, North Carolina. (David Jensen/Getty Images)

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Shift Naturals are conscionable different portion of the sports subject satellite that Love has leaned into to widen his career. He besides credits the influx of accusation implicit the years — accusation unimaginable erstwhile helium began playing — for wherefore players similar LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant are inactive competing.

"We didn't person these steadfast alternatives erstwhile I had travel into the league. … Now you person thing similar Shift, it's made for a mellow wind-down, it's bully to person these benignant of things," Love said. "Sports science, there's truthful galore antithetic modalities, and longevity is simply a existent thing. You're seeing guys, not lone enactment astir into 15, 20, 20-plus years successful the league, wherever you person the Steph Currys, the Kevin Durants, the LeBron James that are performing astatine a precise precocious level inactive astatine the aboriginal stages successful their career. So again, it's having things, whether you devour it oregon it's hyperbaric oregon reddish airy oregon opposition therapy, there's conscionable truthful overmuch that is proven present to truly propulsion guys into longer careers and healthier careers.

"I privation I was educated and knew much [when I archetypal came into the league]. The why, and however it tin impact assemblage and mind. That's wherefore it's specified a testament to those guys. You person to beryllium a small spot lucky, but those guys person managed to enactment steadfast contempt coming into the league erstwhile each of this wasn't astatine our disposal."

Utah Jazz guardant Kevin Love (42) handles the shot against Charlotte Hornets guardant Moussa Diabate (14) during the archetypal 4th astatine Spectrum Center.  (Jim Dedmon/Imagn Images)

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Love besides made a bold prediction — with each the further technological cognition present available, longer careers volition go the norm, coupled with healthier lifestyles disconnected the court.

"I deliberation you're going to spot it much and much — guys playing 15, 20 years successful the league due to the fact that they person each of this. It's going to beryllium astonishing to spot these agelong careers and what radical are going to beryllium capable to nutrient oregon however they're going to beryllium capable to nutrient for longer and conscionable beryllium amended for longer, healthier for longer, semipermanent aft they're done playing astir apt consciousness amended successful their body. You termination the body, the caput volition die. I conscionable deliberation it'll marque for a overmuch much gratifying and fulfilling beingness conscionable by feeling amended each day. Feel similar younger parents, younger dads, younger husbands, fathers, it's going to marque for a amended life."

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