Cavaliers' Kevin Love wins ESPN's Arthur Ashe Courage Award

Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love has been an advocate for mental health since revealing his own struggles with anxiety and panic attacks in 2018, and now he's receiving an award recognizing his efforts.

Love will receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at Sunday's 28th ESPY Awards show after his revelation put a greater focus on health and wellness among NBA players and other athletes, according to USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt. 

“I’m incredibly humbled by it,” Love said, according to Zillgitt. “It’s really a profound honor if you look back at that group of men and women who I admire. Billie Jean King, Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, to name a few. It’s very, very humbling to see my name next to those. I just feel like I have so much more work to do. Those are people who put in a lifetime of work. With my name next to theirs, I have an obligation and opportunity to make a lot of change in the world of mental health.

“I know what Arthur Ashe stood for and what he was about, especially being around UCLA. It’s just tough for me even now to put it into words what this means because it’s so much bigger than the realm of sports.”

Love opened up about his struggles with mental health in 2018 during an interview with ESPN and detailed a severe panic attack he had during a matchup with the Atlanta Hawks. That interview changed how many people view mental illnesses and allowed more athletes to step forward and discuss their own struggles with mental health.

Approximately 46.6 million people are living with mental illness in the United States, according to Athletes for Hope, and 35% of elite athletes suffer from some sort of mental health struggle whether it be stress, eating disorders, burnout, depression, anxiety or any of the over 200 classified forms of mental illness.

Michael Phelps, Joey Votto, Daniel Carcillo, Delonte West, Greg Stiemsma, Oscar De La Hoya, David Freese and Brandon Marshall are among the many athletes who have opened up about their difficulties with mental illnesses in the past, and many of them also have sought help for their battles.

In 2018 the National Basketball Player’s Association (NBPA) launched a mental health and wellness program to provide players with greater access to mental health counselors. Similarly, the NBA has transformed its Rookie Transition Program to place a greater emphasis on mental health education.