Kevin Love was the last remaining member of the Cleveland Cavaliers 2016 NBA Championship team this season. And then there were none, as of yesterday, with the Cavs said to be completing a buyout to free the big man for suitable work in another city.
The Kevin Love move out of Cleveland brought out the love in fans, who were torn arguing about which moment in a Cavs jersey was truly his greatest. An informal poll says the winner is an uncanny 13-second lockdown of the Warriors and Steph Curry late in Game 7 to preserve the victory.
Here is Love forcing a Curry miss after staying in front of him on every fake and shimmy.
Kevin Love’s biggest #Cavs moment?
— John Sabol (@John_Sabol) February 16, 2023
Guarding Steph Curry for 13 seconds with under a minute left of Game 7 in 2016 to help seal Cleveland’s first title since 1964. Legend. #TheStop #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/uSsh7Gcvnn
But other fans bring up a more prolonged Love moment that’s just as surreal and magnificent. Love once scored 34 points in a single quarter of NBA basketball, against the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 24, 2016. (The mark is second in NBA history only to Klay Thompson‘s 37-point single quarter outburst.)
In the opening quarter against Portland, Love shot 11-for-14 from the field and hit eight of his 10 3-point attempts, with teammate LeBron James feeding him the ball over and over. Video below. The fans who choose The Stop and the fans who choose the 34 are both right.
Throwback when Kevin love drop 34 in a quarter one of the craziest thing I ever seen pic.twitter.com/NP3Ecu0ajR
— alex🔮 (@alex637928) February 16, 2023
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