Bob Love, a three-time All-Star at power forward for the Chicago Bulls, has died at the age of 81, the team announced on Monday. Love had been dealing with a long battle with cancer.
Love was one of four Bulls players to have his jersey number retired alongside Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Jerry Sloan. He scored 12,623 points with the Bulls, which ranks third in team history behind only Jordan (29,277) and Pippen (15,123).
"Bob was a true legend and a beloved member of our family during his nine remarkable seasons with the Bulls," the team said in a statement. "Bob was a three-time NBA All-Star, a tenacious defender, and a cornerstone of our team. With his No. 10 jersey hanging in the United Center rafters, his on-court achievements are forever etched in history, but Bob's impact transceded basketball. He became an inspirational figure and a passionate community ambassador for the Bulls, dedicating himself to charitable causes and uplifting countless lives with his motivational speeches. We are profoundly grateful for his enduring contributions and legacy both on and off the court in Chicago."
Love grew up in Louisiana and was initially a two-sport star. He excelled in both football and basketball, and he was given a football scholarship to play for Southern University. Basketball wound up being his superior sport, though, and he grew into a 30-point scorer and three-time NAIA All-American playing at Southern.
Despite his stellar college career, it took Love a few years to get going as a professional. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1965 NBA Draft by the Cincinnati Royals but didn't make the team. He tried again after a year with the Trenton Colonials of the Eastern Basketball League, and he wound up making the Royals roster in 1966. He spent two years as a reserve in Cincinnati before he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1968 expansion draft. He spent 14 games with the Bucks before again getting traded, this time to the Bulls.
His career took off from there. He averaged 21 points and 8.7 rebounds in his first full season with the Bulls, and then earned All-Star nods in the next three seasons afterward. He remained with the Bulls into the 1976-77 season, but a back injury ultimately doomed his career after brief stints with the New York Nets and Seattle Supersonics.
Love suffered from a stutter both before and after his NBA career that made it hard for him to find work after retirement or speak to the press while he was a player. In 1985, however, he hired a speech coach and would eventually become a motivational speaker and director of community relations for the Bulls. He would go on to deliver hundreds of speeches annually, sharing the story of both his career and how he overcame his speech disability.