Kevin Love explained how NBA icon LeBron James ‘hurt his feelings’ over a cryptic tweet aimed at him when the two were teammates.

Love and James teamed up at the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015 but the Californian was forced to make sacrifices in a winning team alongside the four-time NBA champion and rising star Kyrie Irving. Love appeared to be on the receiving end of a jibing tweet from James that suggested the five-time All-Star needed to play for the team more.

A tweet from James in February 2015 read: “Stop trying to find a way to FIT-OUT and just FIT-IN. Be a part of something special! Just my thoughts.” Though the target of James’ message remained anonymous, it became obvious that it was aimed towards Love, who admitted it hurt him.

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Love previously appeared on the ‘Pardon My Take’ podcast that has resurfaced on social media, where he was asked how he reacted to James’ tweet as it was read out to him. Love started laughing after realizing it was the tweet from his ex-teammate, admitting: “That hurt my feelings”.

The former Minnesota Timberwolves rookie was asked whether the tweet was specifically aimed at him. “I was majority that guy,” Love replied. “It’s like 80 per cent Kevin Love, eight per cent Dion Waiters, three per cent Kyrie Irving,” he said while laughing.

“It’s one of those things now that I look back and I probably did take it personal in the moment. It was tough for me, I had to adjust. All I wanted from those guys was the recognition like ‘that guy is sacrificing himself a lot.’”

Kevin Love admitted he was “hurt” by James’ social media message ( Image: Getty Images)

James’ tweet saw him received backlash from fans who criticised him for being a poor teammate and publicly singling Love out. “LeBron’s mostly a great leader but undeniably was passive aggressive in kind of a cringe way when he was frustrated at times throughout his career,” one user wrote.

A second slammed: “Any rational adult would agree that was some unprofessional unhelpful passive aggressive ——–.” While a third argued: “You’re wrong if you think LeBron isn’t a good leader. Many NBA players themselves have said this over and over again. Just because Kevin Love got mistreated doesn’t change that.”

Despite Love taking James’ cryptic tweet personally, the two appear to have settled any issues now. Love explained his thinking behind the reason that James decided to take to social media to get at him. “That was only 20-30 games in when that tweet happened,” Love said.

“I think he (LeBron) was trying to find ways to get the best out of me, get a rise out of me … There was a lot to that. But since then, Bron’s a brother.” Love also added that he never confronted James in the locker room about the tweet. Instead choosing to brush the comments off and focus on his own role.