Kevin Love on art, re-signing with Heat, roster uncertainty and more. Also, training camp info

In about two weeks, Kevin Love will be taking part in his first Miami Heat training camp, but the veteran forward spent the last month taking part in another challenging process.

Love has spent the last few weeks curating the latest edition of Sotheby’s Contemporary auction, selecting eight pieces of art that resonate with his vision for his own art collection. Among the artists who Love picked for the auction include Ernie Barnes, Cy Twombly, Alex Katz, Cindy Sherman and Jennifer Packer.

“It was a lot of fun and something that made me very happy, but also you almost feel like you left a number of people out, as well,” Love said of the curation process. “It was like trying to pick an All-Star team or pick a Dream Team or pick an all-time great team just because there are so many great artists within this space.”

The live auction will take place at Sotheby’s New York on Sept. 28, with an open exhibition set for Sept. 23-27.

“I think just my curiosity and wanting to live with beautiful things on the walls kind of within my ecosystem and my life is something that I always felt I wanted to do,” Love said of collecting art. “I think it’s just a little intimidating not knowing where to get started. So I asked a good friend of mine where to get started and how he started collecting … and the rest is history.”

Here’s the rest of the Miami Herald’s conversation with Love, as he prepares for his second season with the Heat:

Q: What went into your decision to re-sign with the Heat in free agency this summer?

Love: “I think just weighing all the options and understanding my comfort with the team and the organization as time progressed. I think it just continued to get better. I think naturally I wish that I would have found my rhythm and found my fluidity and feel on the court faster. But I think my impact was both on the floor and off the floor. Just being around the locker room, whether it be pregame or postgame, at practice, I felt like I could make a major impact there in helping bring us together. I also have a great relationship with the front office, with ownership, with all my teammates, coaching staff. It just felt like a good home for me and I wanted to continue that and see what was possible if I started the year out for the Miami Heat and see the impact that I could have there.

“It’s also great for my brain to be locked in at that level. You know how intense coach [Erik Spoelstra] is, the expectations and what is expected from all of us when we approach the game and we approach practice and I’m sure training camp and all 82 games-plus. I think all of that, as well as wanting to play as many years as I can and get the most out of myself and my career. I felt like it was a great place and a great landing spot for me, and just how much fun I had and we had being a part of that historic run that we were on. Obviously, it didn’t end the way that we wanted it to and there’s some unfinished business. That certainly played a part in coming back. But it just very quickly felt like home for me and I developed a relationship with the fan base that was pretty special even in the limited time I was there.”

Q: There’s a mythology surrounding the rigors of a Heat training camp. What are your expectations entering your first Heat camp?

Love: “I ask a lot of questions. That was something I was like, ‘What is training camp like because I’ve heard ...’ There’s like the legend and the myth behind how coach [Pat] Riley did it or how Spo has done it in the past, and conditioning tests and just what the Heat is all about. We want to be world-class athletes and in world-class shape. I think that has just slightly changed my approach to building up going into training camp. Not that my preparation wasn’t there before, but certainly having gone to the Finals five times and kind of starting the build up to get in that world class shape a little bit later in the offseason. This time around, I started a little bit early in preparation for potentially what’s to come in a Heat training camp. But I’m very excited to start the year with the guys. I’m going to be down there very soon actually, so excited to get back in the gym and feel that energy and be in that space.”

Q: With all of the Damian Lillard speculation swirling around the Heat, how do you approach that level of uncertainty surrounding the roster as you enter camp?

Love: “There certainly are challenges because I think in life the unknown is scary or misleading and something that can rub people the wrong way. But I think part of being a veteran and my role as one of the leaders or somebody who has some influence, the relationships with my teammates and understanding who might be coming and who might be going. Finding that common ground and seeing how I can get the best out of them and understanding the fluidity of a season, understanding that things can change so fast in a season and in this business. Making sure guys are right mentally and that can be any player on the roster. Whether it be Kyle [Lowry], who is in his 18th season, whether it be Tyler [Herro], who was hurt and who has been in discussions all summer long, Duncan [Robinson], who was in and out of the lineup last year, [Nikola Jovic], who just came off a silver medal and who has played all the way through the summer, the younger guys.

“There are so many different dynamics on the team and finding ways to get the best out of guys is going to be huge for me. So wearing different hats and at the same time being just authentically and unapologetically myself is the best way to approach it and go about it. But it is definitely multi-faceted and layered, but this is the NBA. This type of stuff is just constant and always in motion.”

TRAINING CAMP INFO

The Heat announced Friday that it will hold training camp this year at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton from Tuesday, Oct. 3 through Saturday, Oct. 7. Practices will be closed to the public.

The Heat will hold media day at Kaseya Center on Monday, Oct. 2 before departing to Boca Raton.