Following Monday night’s 111-102 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Cleveland Cavaliers big man Kevin Love received a nice compliment from LeBron James’ three-year-old daughter, Zhuri.
As he often does after games, James pulled out his phone for a locker room FaceTime session with Zhuri, who appeared to be having a late-night snack at the time.
Via Hayden Grove of Cleveland.com:
“Are you eating your noodles?!” James asked in a playful voice. “You’re crazy.”
A few moments went by as James watched and listened to his daughter on the screen. Then, somewhat surprisingly, Zhuri asked to see Love, who was checking his phone as well. “She wants to see Kevin Love,” James said.
“You want to see Kevin Love?” James asked Zhuri. “Give Kevin the phone.”
James then handed the phone to NBA staffer Jim Ice, according to Cleveland.com. Ice made his way over to Love, who was seated at his locker stall icing down his feet and knees.
“Hello princess,” Love said to Zhuri with a smile.
Zhuri, feeling a bit shy, didn’t respond right away, which prompted Love to continue the conversation.
“Don’t get shy on me now,” Love said.
“Good game!!” Zhuri said in the cutest voice ever.
Love logged 29 minutes in Monday’s win, racking up nine points on 3-12 shooting from the field (1-4 from beyond the arc), 11 rebounds and three assists. The former UCLA standout passed Zhuri’s praise on to James.
“Not me,” Love humbly replied. “That was your Dad.”
LeBron James posted yet another outstanding postseason performance on Monday night. In his 42 minutes of playing time, the King tallied a whopping 44 points on 17-28 shooting (1-4 from downtown), five rebounds, three assists and two steals. For the record, it was his sixth 40-point performance of this postseason.
Just before their conversation came to an end, Love told Zhuri, “Well we’ll see you when we get back to Cleveland on Friday.”
Game 5 is set to tip inside TD Garden at 8:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday night. Now that they’ve managed to even the series at two games apiece, the Cavs will be looking to keep their momentum rolling — with a little motivation from Zhuri, of course.
