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LeBron James Apologizes to Kevin Love After Mammoth Dunk in Cleveland

The Lakers star still wants to secure the wedding invite.

Zach Koons

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When he returned to Cleveland on Monday night, Lakers star LeBron James brought along a special gift for former Cavaliers teammate Kevin Love: a monstrous slam dunk.

In the second quarter of Monday’s game between the Lakers and the Cavs, James cut into an open lane after an offensive rebound. He caught the pass from Austin Reaves and began to rise up over Love, who stood helplessly under the basket. James then flushed down the one-handed dunk to tie the game at 60. 

The slam was the highlight of the 37-year-old’s latest masterpiece this season. However, he admitted postgame he felt guilty the dunk had to be on his former teammate.

“To be completely honest, I hated that it had to be him,” James said with a smile postgame. “He’s my guy. That’s my brother. And I hope I’m still invited to [Love's] wedding. That’s not even in my all-time dunks so 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 still win the game by nine.”

Love’s pride might’ve been hurt in the moment, but he made it sound like he won’t harbor a grudge for too long. He joked on Twitter that he might need a few days to cool off.

James and Love also shared an exchange right after the game. The Cleveland forward came over and jokingly wrested the L.A. star to the ground before the two embraced.

The dunk encapsulated James’s dominant performance against his former team in Cleveland on Monday. He poured in 38 points, adding 12 assists and 11 rebounds en route to the Lakers’ 131–120 win.

Los Angeles improved to 31–41 on the year with the victory.

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Zach Koons
ZACH KOONS

Zach Koons is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about Formula One. He joined SI as a breaking/trending news writer in February 2022 before joining the programming team in 2023. Koons previously worked at The Spun and interned for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He currently hosts the "Bleav in Northwestern" podcast and received a bachelor's in journalism from Northwestern University.

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