Kevin Love

Kevin Wesley Love (born September 7, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a five-time All-Star and a two-time member of the All-NBA Second Team and won an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. He was also a member of the gold medal-winning United States national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2011, Love won the NBA Most Improved Player Award and led the league in rebounding.

The son of former NBA player Stan Love, Love was a top-ranked prospect out of Lake Oswego High School in Oregon. He played one season of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and led the team to a Final Four appearance in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Love was named a consensus First Team All-American and was voted player of the year in the Pac-12 Conference. He elected to forgo his remaining three years of college eligibility and entered the 2008 NBA draft. He was taken fifth overall by the Memphis Grizzlies, and was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves on draft night for the third overall selection, O. J. Mayo, in an eight-player deal. During the 2010–11 season, Love established the longest streak for consecutive games recording double figures in points and rebounds since the ABA–NBA merger.[1]

After six seasons with Minnesota, Love was traded to the Cavaliers in 2014. After making four straight NBA Finals with the team and winning a championship, Love suffered multiple injuries from 2018 to 2021. He slotted into a reserve role in 2021–22 and finished as runner-up for the Sixth Man of the Year award. However, reduced playing time the following season led Love to reach a contract buyout agreement with the Cavaliers. After nine seasons with Cleveland, he joined Miami in February 2023, where he reached his fifth NBA Finals in as many playoff appearances.

Early life

Love was born on September 7, 1988, in Santa Monica, California, the second of three children to Karen and Stan Love.[2] He grew up in Lake Oswego, Oregon, where he was childhood friends and Little League teammates with fellow future NBA star Klay Thompson.[3] Love played basketball from his earliest days;[4] as a child, he would practice his bounce passes with a cardboard box and study tapes of Wes Unseld.[5] His father Stan, a former NBA big man who was an adept shooter, had his son develop his outside shooting and ballhandling skills.[6]

Love played high school basketball for the Lake Oswego Lakers.[7] In his sophomore season, he averaged 25.3 points, 15.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, leading the Lakers to the 2005 state championship game, where they lost to Jesuit High School.[8][9] The following summer, Nike removed him from its Portland Elite Legends AAU team after he chose to participate in the Reebok ABCD Camp against other top recruits.[10] He went on to play for the Southern California All-Stars, helping the team compile a 46–0 record while garnering three MVP awards.[8] In his junior year, he averaged 28 points, 16.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game as Lake Oswego returned to the state championship game, this time winning behind Love's 24 points and 9 rebounds.[9] In his senior season, he averaged 33.9 points, 17.0 rebounds, and 4 assists per game.[8][11] Lake Oswego made their third straight trip to the state championship game, losing in a rematch of the prior year's final to South Medford High School and Love's rival Kyle Singler despite 37 points from Love.[8][12] At the conclusion of the season, Love was named the Gatorade National Male Athlete of the Year.[2] He was also a first-team Parade All-American. He finished his high school career as the all-time leading scorer in Oregon boys' basketball history, with 2,628 points.

College career

In July 2006, Love verbally committed to play college basketball at UCLA.[13] He had also considered playing for North Carolina.[10][14][15] Before the 2007–08 season, he received permission from Walt Hazzard to wear number 42 for the Bruins even though the school had retired the number for Hazzard in 1996.[16] After arriving at UCLA, Love regularly sought out retired Bruins legends Bill Walton and John Wooden for advice.[17] His decision to play for UCLA brought anger from fans of Oregon, his father's alma mater, where it was expected Love would play.[4] Prior to a game at Oregon, Ducks fans obtained Love's cell phone number and left obscene messages as well as death threats; the fans also subjected Love's family to obscenities and threw garbage at them during the game. This event, along with similar incidents directed at other players, prompted a discussion of whether abuse by college basketball fans is becoming too extreme.[18][19]

In the 2008 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament, the Bruins defeated the USC Trojans, featuring O. J. Mayo, in the semi-finals. Both Mayo and Love were nominated to the All-Pac-10 tournament team. Later, Love guided UCLA to the regular season Pac-10 conference championship, the conference tournament championship, and a No. 1 seed in the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Love helped the Bruins to the Final Four of the tournament, where they lost to the Memphis Tigers, whose season and tournament appearance, in turn, were later vacated. At the end of the 2007–08 regular season, Love was named consensus first-team All-American, Pac-10 Player of the Year, All-Pac-10, and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. He led the Bruins with 17.5 ppg, 10.6 rpg, and 23 double-doubles