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. 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. Love was nicknamed "Butterbean", which dates back to his boyhood when he was fond of the legume.
Early life, high school and college career
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. Love was raised by an abusive stepfather until he ran away to live with his grandmother when he was 8. He did not meet his biological father until he was 33. 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. 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. Southern University retired his number 41 on January 7, 2012.
Love graduated with a bachelor of science degree in food and nutrition. and gained enough confidence to try out for the Royals once more. He made the team on his second attempt,
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. 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, and earned All-NBA second-team honors both seasons. Love also appeared in the 1973 All-Star Game, which the Bulls hosted,
His No. 10 jersey was the second jersey number to be retired by the Chicago Bulls. Jerry Sloan's No. 4 was the first. Love's 1995 wedding ceremony to Rachel Dixon took place at the United Center.
Love suffered a back injury in 1976 and was traded to the Seattle Supersonics, and was cut the following season.
Love died after a long battle with cancer in Chicago, on November 18, 2024, at the age of 81. The Bulls announced his death on their social media accounts later that day.
Honors and awards
In addition to honors received as a player, the Bulls retired Love's number on January 14, 1994. He received the Individual Achievement Award from the National Council for Communicative Disorders, and the NBA's Oscar Robertson Leadership Award in 1989.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
|-
| align="left" | 1966–67
| align="left" | Cincinnati
| 66 || — || 16.3 || .429 || — || .633 || 3.9 || 0.7 || — || — || 6.7
|-
| align="left" | 1967–68
| align="left" | Cincinnati
| 72 || — || 14.8 || .424 || — || .684 || 2.9 || 0.8 || — || — || 6.4
|-
| align="left" | 1968–69
| align="left" | Milwaukee
| 14 || — || 16.2 || .368 || — || .763 || 4.6 || 0.2 || — || — || 7.6
|-
| align="left" | 1968–69
| align="left" | Chicago
| 35 || — || 9.0 || .416 || — || .724 || 2.5 || 0.4 || — || — || 5.1
|-
| align="left" | 1969–70
| align="left" | Chicago
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || — || 38.1 || .466 || — || .842 || 8.7 || 1.8 || — || — || 21.0
|-
| align="left" | 1970–71
| align="left" | Chicago
| 81 || — || 43.0 || .447 || — || .829 || 8.5 || 2.3 || — || — || 25.2
|-
| align="left" | 1971–72
| align="left" | Chicago
| 79 || — || 39.3 || .442 || — || .784 || 6.6 || 1.6 || — || — || 25.8
|-
| align="left" | 1972–73
| align="left" | Chicago
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || — || 37.0 || .431 || — || .824 || 6.5 || 1.5 || — || — || 23.1
|-
| align="left" | 1973–74
| align="left" | Chicago
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || — || 40.1 || .417 || — || .818 || 6.0 || 1.6 || 1.0 || 0.3 || 21.8
|-
| align="left" | 1974–75
| align="left" | Chicago
| 61 || — || 39.4 || .429 || — || .830 || 6.3 || 1.7 || 1.0 || 0.2 || 22.0
|-
| align="left" | 1975–76
| align="left" | Chicago
| 76 || — || 37.1 || .390 || — || .801 || 6.7 || 1.9 || 0.8 || 0.1 || 19.1
|-
| align="left" | 1976–77
| align="left" | Chicago
| 14 || — || 35.4 || .338 || — || .761 || 5.2 || 1.6 || 0.6 || 0.1 || 12.2
|-
| align="left" | 1976–77
| align="left" | New York
| 13 || — || 17.5 || .462 || — || .846 || 2.9 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 0.2 || 10.1
|-
| align="left" | 1976–77
| align="left" | Seattle
| 32 || — || 14.1 || .372 || — || .872 || 2.7 || 0.7 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 789 || — || 31.8 || .429 || — || .805 || 5.9 || 1.4 || 0.8 || 0.2 || 17.6
|- class=sortbottom
!scope=row colspan=13 | Source: 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. 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. In 1993, Love returned to the Chicago Bulls as their director of community relations. One of his duties in this position involved regularly speaking to school children.
Bibliography
- The Bob Love Story: If It's Gonna Be, It's Up to Me (), in 1999.
References
External links
- Bob Love NBA career statistics
- Chicago Bulls: Bob Love, Former Stutterer article and video at Sterling Speakers website
- Bio of Bob Love at AEI Speakers