Ex-Teammates Kevin Love and J.R. Smith Share Sweet Embrace After Pacers-Knicks Game 5

Pull out the tissues for this one!

Kevin Love and JR Smith embrace at Madison Square Garden on May 29, 2025. / NBA on TNT / X / Screensho

You can take the boys out of Cleveland ...

Former Cavaliers teammates Kevin Love and J.R. Smith, who won a championship together in 2016, were reunited Thursday night after the New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference finals series.

And if the pair's heartwarming embrace was any indication, these guys have just as much love for one another now as they did back in Ohio years ago.

In a video shared on social, Smith is shown essentially bear-hugging Love, who meets the moment by nearly picking his former teammate up off the ground.

Watch that below:

JR Smith & Kevin Love are reunited 🥹🤞 pic.twitter.com/3HDCSy3SPw

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 30, 2025

Although just one of them is still in the league—Smith enrolled in North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he walked on to the golf team—it's sweet to see how the game keeps these guys connected nearly a decade after their championship run.

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