Cleveland - Through mental health awareness and his impact on the community, Kevin Love is getting honored in a major way.
The Cleveland Cavalier star Power Forward has been listed as a finalist for the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award.
The award is given to an athlete whose continuous, demonstrated leadership has created a measured positive impact on their community through sports.
ESPN adds the candidate must embrace the core principles that Muhammad Ali embodied so well, including confidence, conviction, dedication, giving and respect. They added these comments in the bio section for the finalists:
After publicly sharing his own battle with anxiety and depression, Kevin Love has committed to normalizing the conversation around mental health. As soon as Love bravely used his voice, he inspired others to follow suit, sharing their own struggles as well. Teammates and fans responded with words of support and encouragement. He regularly engages with children who suffer from depression and anxiety and find encouragement in his story. Through the Kevin Love Fund (KLF), he’s developing an education curriculum designed to destigmatize challenges with mental health and to model the presence of emotion as an important dimension of the human experience, with a goal of reaching millions of students. The KLF also is endowing a Research Chair at UCLA that will empower eminent UCLA psychologists working to revolutionize treatments for anxiety and depression and give hope to millions of sufferers around the world.
The winner will be able to direct a $100,000 grant from ESPN to the qualified charity related to the award-winning humanitarian efforts. The finalists will be able to direct a $25,000 grant to the charity related to their award-winning efforts.
Other nominees include Minnesota Twins slugger Nelson Cruz, New England Patriot defenders Devin and Jason McCourty, Minnesota Lynx star guard Maya Moore and WWE Superstar Titus O'Neil.
ESPN will air a combined show on June 21st with the Sports Humanitarian Awards and The 2020 ESPYS.
Photos courtesy of ESPN
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