CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
Playing alongside him for four seasons as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kevin Love has seen LeBron James make plenty of jaw-dropping plays at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
But on Monday, the Cavs forward found himself on one of the wrong side of one of James' highlights.
With 2:41 remaining in the second quarter of the matchup between Love's Cavs and James' Lakers, Los Angeles guard Russell Westbrook missed a free throw, which was rebounded by Austin Reaves. From there, the Lakers guard found a cutting James, who proceeded to slam home a one-handed dunk over his former Cleveland teammate, who was attempting to take a charge.
James' posterization of Love, however, didn't lead to any bad blood between the two cornerstones of Cleveland's 2016 championship team. During an ensuing timeout, Love playfully put James in a headlock, with the four-time MVP later explaining that he wished his former Cavs teammate had just gotten out of the way.
“To be completely honest, I hate that it had to be him,” James said after the game, which the Lakers won by a score of 131-120. "That’s my guy. That’s my brother and I hope I’m still invited to the wedding. That’s not even in my all-time dunks, I’ll take it out. I didn’t mean it. K-Love, I love you and I take it back. I wish I could take those two points back and we’d still win the game by 9.”
Love and his now-fiance, model Kate Bock, got engaged in January 2021.