Kevin Love Discusses Shutting Down Steph Curry in Game 7 on ‘The Late Show’

Kevin Love opens up about shutting down Steph Curry and hugging LeBron James during his appearance on ‘The Late Show.’

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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In the days following Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, LeBron James, Kevin Love, and the Cavaliers were very busy. They partied in Las Vegas after they defeated the Warriors in that game to win the NBA championship, and then they headed back to Cleveland where they helped the city celebrate its first major championship in more than 50 years with a parade. It was one hell of a week, and unfortunately, the week was so busy that Cavs players didn’t get the chance to make the rounds on the late-night talk show circuit like most players do after winning a title.

It looks like they’re going to start making up for lost time, though. On Monday night, Love visited The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and told Colbert all about how great the last week has been. He let Colbert hold the Larry O’Brien Trophy, talked about how tough it was to sit out of the 2015 NBA Finals with an injury, and discussed how he was able to shut down Steph Curry on one of the final plays of Game 7.

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"I really had to put on my dancing shoes with him, because I knew he was going to throw everything at me," Love said. "He actually gave the ball up to Draymond Green, got it back, and I mean, he’s a two-time MVP. I had to do everything I could to stay in front of him, and luckily, I was there."

Colbert then pointed out that Love was “all over him like a spider monkey” and asked him to elaborate on how he was able to stop him.

"He was three steps behind the three-point line, and I knew I had to guard him there," Love said. "He’s a guy that has so much confidence with the ball. When he threw it up, he usually shoots it and looks at you, so I kind of had to look back and think, ‘Okay, he’s not looking at me. I contested his shot. I think I’m okay.’ And, you know, he missed it short, we got the rebound, and eventually got to the free-throw line and LeBron hit the second and that was it."

Later in the segment, Colbert asked Love about the now-infamous photo that was taken of him hugging a crying LeBron after the game:

Love revealed that, once the final buzzer sounded, he was trying to find someone—anyone—to hug, and LeBron just so happened to be the first teammate he came across.

"I didn’t want to be the guy that was searching for someone to hug," Love said, "so I tried to find the person that everyone was most likely to hug and it happened to be Bron. All the cameras were there, he dropped to his knees, it was a special moment. It’s something I’ll always remember among many things in that game. That was a warm, cuddly embrace at the end there."

Love went on to talk about the Cavs’ fixation with WWE and, of course, J.R. Smith's shirt. You can watch that portion of the interview here:

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Stay tuned as we doubt Love will be the last Cavs player to appear on a late-night talk show this week.

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