Love to receive award for opening up about battle with mental illness

Kevin Love's willingness to share his struggles with mental health in a piece for The Players' Tribune back in March was groundbreaking - not just for the NBA, but for professional sports as a whole.

For doing so, the Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star will be presented with the 2018 Bronze Key Award from Recovery Resources during a gala on Nov. 3.

The Bronze Key "acknowledges a person/organization who champions support for those diagnosed with mental illness and/or addiction through action."

Love described in detail a panic attack he suffered during a third-quarter timeout against the Atlanta Hawks early in the 2017-18 regular season. Undisclosed family issues had been burdening him at the time, and with the Cavaliers struggling, the mental and emotional toll became too much for him to bear.

He went on to find a therapist through the assistance of the organization, which Love credited as being an "eye-opening experience" that allowed him to begin the healing process.

"The thing is, because we can’t see it, we don’t know who’s going through what and we don’t know when and we don’t always know why," Love wrote. "Mental health is an invisible thing, but it touches all of us at some point or another. It’s part of life."