You’ve seen Kevin Love’s “Lil Kev” alter ego. He’s all over the place, in those “Hoopers” State Farm commercials. He has his own rap song and everything.
During Cleveland’s 9-0 start to the playoffs, Lil Kev has become the Cavaliers’ unofficial mascot, thanks to a major presence on, of all things, Richard Jefferson’s Snapchat account.
Jefferson explained it to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com a couple weeks ago:
“Lil’ Kev, man, he’s a wild one,” Jefferson said before Cleveland’s shootaround Friday morning in Atlanta. “He’s a wild one. Everybody’s got like, alter egos. You’ve got Kobe [Bryant]; he’s the Black Mamba. You got [Michael] Jordan; obviously Air Jordan. You got LeBron [James]; and you got King James. So, you know, you got Kev [Kevin Love] and you got Lil’ Kev.
“Lil’ Kev, he’s special.”
What Lil’ Kev is, literally, is a Tommy Bahama advertisement that was ripped out of an in-flight magazine by Jefferson when the Cavs were flying back from Detroit after their first-round sweep of the Pistons.
Jefferson thought the model in the ad bore a striking resemblance to Love.
“We saw Lil’ Kev in a magazine and we just started giving Big Kev a lot of crap, even though it’s not him,” said Jefferson. “It’s not him and that makes it even funnier.”
And now, the Cavs have taken it a step further. Lil Kev has his own Instagram account. It’s verified and everything.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFiPFwdmUWC/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFcXxmvGUQQ/
For all the speculation that’s taken place this season about Love’s fit with the Cavs and whether or not he gets along with LeBron James, the entire Lil Kev saga is proof that all of these guys can have fun at their own expense to keep themselves loose during a playoff run.
