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Bob Love

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For the Australian footballer, see Bob Love (footballer). For the British lawn bowler, see Bob Love (bowls).

Bob Love
Love with the Chicago Bulls
Personal information
Born(1942-12-08)December 8, 1942
Bastrop, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedNovember 18, 2024(2024-11-18) (aged 81)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolMorehouse (Bastrop, Louisiana)
CollegeSouthern (1961–1965)
NBA draft1965: 4th round, 33rd overall pick
Selected by the Cincinnati Royals
Playing career1965–1977
PositionSmall forward
Number21, 9, 10
Career history
1965–1966Trenton Colonials
1966–1968Cincinnati Royals
1968Milwaukee Bucks
1968–1976Chicago Bulls
1976–1977New York Nets
1977Seattle SuperSonics
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points13,895 (17.6 ppg)
Rebounds4,653 (5.9 rpg)
Assists1,123 (1.4 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Robert Earl Love (December 8, 1942 – November 18, 2024) was an American professional basketball player who spent the prime of his career with the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls.[1][2] A versatile forward who could shoot with either his left or right hand, Love later worked as the Bulls' director of community affairs and goodwill ambassador.[3] His "Butterbean" nickname dates back to his boyhood when he was fond of the legume.[4]

Early life, high school and college career

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Love grew up in the cotton fields of Louisiana, the son of a sharecropper. His first basket was made out of a wire hanger and his first basketball was a pair of socks. He suffered from a severe stuttering disability and seldom spoke, fearing to be called on in school where other children would ridicule him.[5][6][7] Love was raised by an abusive stepfather until he was 8, and did not meet his biological father until he was 33. He ran away to live with his grandmother when he was 8.[7]

Love starred in both basketball and football (as the quarterback) at Morehouse High School (now defunct) in Bastrop, Louisiana, leading his team to state titles in both sports.[7] He graduated in 1961.[8] Love earned a football scholarship to Southern University in Baton Rouge, where he also became a brother of Alpha Phi Omega, but wound up playing basketball.[7][9] Love averaged 12.8 points as a freshman, 22.6 as a sophomore, 25.6 as a junior (and 18 rebounds a game), and 30.6 as a senior (and 18.2 rebounds a game), which scoring average led the Southwestern Athletic Conference that year. He was a three-time NAIA All-American. He was also a three-time All Southwestern Conference selection.[10][11] Southern University retired his number 41 on January 7, 2012.[12]

Love graduated with a bachelor of science degree in food and nutrition.[7]

Professional career

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In 1965, the Cincinnati Royals selected the 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) forward in the fourth round of the 1965 NBA draft. Love failed to make the team,[5] and instead spent the 1965–66 NBA season in the Eastern Basketball League. After averaging over 25 points per game, Love earned the EBL Rookie of the Year Award and gained enough confidence to try out for the Royals once more. He made the team on his second attempt,[7] and played two seasons for the Royals, largely in a reserve role. Love made his NBA debut on October 18, 1966.[13] In 1968, the Milwaukee Bucks selected him in the NBA Expansion Draft and traded him to the Chicago Bulls in the middle of the 1968–69 season, at Love's request. Even though Love had averaged 20 points a game in the pre-season, the Bucks told him they would not keep him because of Love's communication problems.[7]

Love flourished while playing for future Naismith hall of fame coach Dick Motta's Bulls. Love played for the Bulls for eight seasons, led the team in scoring seven of those seasons, was a three-time all-star with the Bulls, and three-time all-defensive team selection, and two-time All NBA.[7][10][14] In 1969–70, he became a full-time starter, averaging 21 points and 8.7 rebounds. The following two seasons he averaged 25.2 and 25.8 points per game,[13] appeared in his first two NBA All-Star Games,[15] and earned All-NBA Second Team honors both seasons. Love also appeared in the 1973 All-Star Game, which the Bulls hosted,[15] and he would average at least 19 points and six rebounds every season until 1976–77. Love was named to the NBA's All-Defense Second Team for the 1971–1972, 1973–1974 and 1974–1975 seasons.[16]

His #10 jersey was the second jersey number to be retired by the Chicago Bulls. Jerry Sloan's #4 was the first. Love's 1995 wedding ceremony to Rachel Dixon took place at the United Center.[17]

Love suffered a back injury in 1976 and was traded to the Seattle Supersonics, and was cut the following season.[7]

Personal life, speech disability, and death

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Love had a severe issue with stuttering, such that at one point after his all-star NBA career ended the only work he could find was as a dishwasher and busboy at a Nordstrom in Seattle. In the 1980s, with the support of store head John Nordstrom, Love began working with speech therapist Susan Hamilton who helped him overcome his stutter. Love overcame his speech disability and became a motivational speaker.[5][6][7] In 1992, the Bulls hired Love as Director of Community Affairs, where he spoke to thousands of teenagers, making hundreds of speeches a year.[8][7][18]

Love died after a long battle with cancer in Chicago, on November 18, 2024, at the age of 81.[19] The Bulls announced his death on their social media accounts later that day.[20]

Honors and awards

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In addition to honors received as a player, the Bulls retired Love's number on January 14, 1994.[21] He received the Individual Achievement Award from the National Council for Communicative Disorders, and the NBA's Oscar Robertson Leadership Award in 1989.[8][10] Love was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.[10] He was also selected to the NAIA, Basketball Coaches, Illinois, and Helms Halls of Fame.[11] There is a historical marker to Love in Baton Rouge.[22]

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 *  Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1966–67 Cincinnati 66 — 16.3 .429 — .633 3.9 0.7 — — 6.7
1967–68 Cincinnati 72 — 14.8 .424 — .684 2.9 0.8 — — 6.4
1968–69 Milwaukee 14 — 16.2 .368 — .763 4.6 0.2 — — 7.6
1968–69 Chicago 35 — 9.0 .416 — .724 2.5 0.4 — — 5.1
1969–70 Chicago 82* — 38.1 .466 — .842 8.7 1.8 — — 21.0
1970–71 Chicago 81 — 43.0 .447 — .829 8.5 2.3 — — 25.2
1971–72 Chicago 79 — 39.3 .442 — .784 6.6 1.6 — — 25.8
1972–73 Chicago 82* — 37.0 .431 — .824 6.5 1.5 — — 23.1
1973–74 Chicago 82* — 40.1 .417 — .818 6.0 1.6 1.0 0.3 21.8
1974–75 Chicago 61 — 39.4 .429 — .830 6.3 1.7 1.0 0.2 22.0
1975–76 Chicago 76 — 37.1 .390 — .801 6.7 1.9 0.8 0.1 19.1
1976–77 Chicago 14 — 35.4 .338 — .761 5.2 1.6 0.6 0.1 12.2
1976–77 New York 13 — 17.5 .462 — .846 2.9 0.3 0.1 0.2 10.1
1976–77 Seattle 32 — 14.1 .372 — .872 2.7 0.7 0.4 0.1 4.1
Career 789 — 31.8 .429 — .805 5.9 1.4 0.8 0.2 17.6
Source:[13]

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1969–70 Chicago 5 — 34.4 .385 — .792 9.2 0.8 — — 11.8
1970–71 Chicago 7 — 47.1* .491 — .806 7.3 1.4 — — 26.7*
1971–72 Chicago 4 — 43.3 .360 — .846 6.8 1.8 — — 18.8
1972–73 Chicago 7 — 44.9 .459 — .732 9.6 3.3 — — 23.7
1973–74 Chicago 11 — 44.5 .405 — .763 5.7 2.2 1.3 0.5 23.0
1974–75 Chicago 13 — 44.8 .437 — .779 7.5 1.5 0.8 0.4 25.8
Career 47 — 43.9 .431 — .776 7.5 1.9 1.0 0.4 22.9
Source:[13]

Executive career

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Love in 2010

Love ended his NBA career with the Bulls after spending parts of the 1976–77 season in New York and Seattle. He would finish with career totals of 13,895 points, 1,123 assists, and 4,653 rebounds. Love developed a stutter in childhood,[23] and some say it prevented him from finding meaningful employment after his playing days were over. At one point, Love was hired as a busboy and dishwasher by Nordstrom where he earned $4.45 an hour.[23][24] Eventually, John Nordstrom, the director of the family business, was so impressed with the former NBA star's work ethic, he offered to pay for speech therapy classes. Nordstrom later promoted Love to be the corporate spokesperson. He became an executive with Nordstrom and a manager of health and sanitation for its national seventy-restaurant chain.[25] In 1993, Love returned to the Chicago Bulls as their director of community relations.[23][26] One of his duties in this position involved regularly speaking to school children.[23] Love had also become a motivational speaker.[27]

Bibliography

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  • The Bob Love Story: If It's Gonna Be, It's Up to Me (ISBN 0-8092-2597-2), in 1999.

References

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  1. ^ Ron Higgins (June 8, 1983). "A painful experience". The Shreveport Journal. pp. 1C–5C. Retrieved October 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  2. ^ Bob Greene (February 17, 1993). "A champion defeats the silence". Chicago Tribune. Section 5, p. 1. Retrieved October 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  3. ^ "Staff Directory". NBA.com. October 1, 2007.
  4. ^ "The Power of Love," Chicago Bulls, Friday, December 15, 2017. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Bob Love: Speaking from the Heart". www.nba.com. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Bob Love". Stuttering Foundation: A Nonprofit Organization Helping Those Who Stutter. July 1, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Berkow, Ira (November 5, 2002). "PRO BASKETBALL; Bob Love Now Speaks for Himself". New York Times.
  8. ^ a b c "Bob Love, The History Makers". thehistorymakers.org. August 15, 2002.
  9. ^ "Bob Love Biography". The History Makers. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d "Bob Love". Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Bob Love". scb-final. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  12. ^ "Southern to honor former hoops legend Bob Love". Southern University. December 31, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d "Bob Love Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  14. ^ "Bob Love | Chicago Bulls". www.nba.com. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  15. ^ a b "A Chicago Bulls history of the NBA All-Star weekend". Da Windy City. February 17, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  16. ^ "Year-by-year NBA All-Defensive Teams". NBA.com. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  17. ^ "BULLS' HALFTIME A LOVE CEREMONY AS FORMER STAR MARRIES". Deseret News. December 9, 1995. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  18. ^ Moore, Marat (May 2004). "Bob Love Speaks His Dream". The ASHA Leader. 9 (9): 8–14. doi:10.1044/leader.FTR4.09092004.8. ISSN 1085-9586.
  19. ^ "Chicago Bulls mourn the passing of Bob Love". NBA. November 18, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  20. ^ Bob Love death announcement, November 18, 2024
  21. ^ "Bulls Great Bob Love Is Still A Key Member of the Organization". SLAM. June 29, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  22. ^ "Bob 'Butterbean' Love Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  23. ^ a b c d Bob Greene (March 21, 1993). "Basketball star's greatest triumph came after cheering stopped". Chicago Tribune.
  24. ^ "NBA.com: Bob Love Bio". www.nba.com. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  25. ^ "BULLISH ON LIFE". Chicago Tribune. July 18, 1993. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  26. ^ "Former Chicago Bulls player Bob Love to talk about business and basketball at Triton College". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  27. ^ Mary Beth Sammons (July 18, 1993). "Bullish on life". Chicago Tribune. Section 18, pages1, 7. Retrieved October 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
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