NBA star JR Smith shares emotional photo holding 5-month premature baby girl for the first time

Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard JR Smith celebrated "the greatest day" of his life as he held his one-month old baby girl for the first time on Monday (6 February). He shared the emotional moment with his fans on Instagram.

Smith posted a touching picture of his daughter – Dakota – as she rested her little head on her father's chest. "Today is one of the greatest days of my life," the 31-year-old athlete captioned the adorable photo, "Today I get to hold my youngest for the first time! GOD is GREAT! #DakotaStrong"

The NBA star and his wife Jewel Harris had taken to social media last month to share the news about their daughter's birth, who was born five months early. In a video posted on Uninterrupted – fellow Cavaliers star LeBron James' multimedium platform – Smith and his wife had shared the news about their baby girl and asked their fans to pray for them.

"We've got very important news," the basketball champion had said before his wife continued with their touching message. "We decided to share with the world what's been going on with our family the past five days. We know a lot of you guys congratulated us on the expectancy of our little baby girl, but we had her five months early," Harris added.

"She's 5-days-old today and her name is Dakota and she weighs one pound. We know we're not the only family going through this, who has been through this, and who will ever go through it. That's why we decided to share what we're going through with you guys," the better half of the NBA player said, "Please keep us in your prayers and we'll do the same for everyone else."

Since baby Dakota's premature birth the family has been by the little one's side. Smith even shared some of the sweet moments on his Instagram profile.

"My loves," the proud father captioned a picture of his daughter Demi as she lovingly looked at her newborn sister.

Smith and Harris got married in August 2016 and with the latest addition to their family, the couple is proud parents to daughters Demi, Peyton and Dakota.