Bob Love was a three-time All-Star forward for the Chicago Bulls who later became the team’s goodwill ambassador.
- Died: November 18, 2024 (Who else died on November 18?)
- Details of death: Died in Chicago of cancer at the age of 81.
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Bob Love’s legacy
After Love retired from what had been a successful NBA career playing for the Chicago Bulls, he had difficulty finding a job, stymied by a stutter that had plagued him since he was a child. Embarrassed by going from professional basketball to bussing tables at a Seattle Nordstrom’s store restaurant, Love took an opportunity to get speech therapy for promotion to management while employed there. He then began motivational speaking, returning to the Windy City years later to become the Bulls’ community relations director and goodwill ambassador.
During his time on the court, Love was a highly mobile forward who could shoot well from both his left and right hands. At Southern University in Baton Rouge, he was a three-time NAIA All-American who was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1968. The team did not want to work with his difficulties communicating, however, and traded him to the Bulls.
In Chicago, he turned into a star player. Playing under Hall of Fame coach Dick Motta, Love spent eight years with the Bulls, leading the team in scoring seven of those eight years and going to the All-Star game three times. He averaged over 20 points per game in each of his first six years with the team. His run only ended after a 1976 back injury. Love was traded to the Seattle Supersonics, who cut him the following season, ending his NBA career.
After overcoming his stutter, then successfully managing health and sanitation for all Nordstrom’s eateries, Love became a beloved presence in and around Chicago, speaking to countless children, community organizations, and more over the years. In 1994, the Bulls retired his No. 10 jersey, making him only the second player in franchise history to have their number retired, and in 2012, his college jersey number, 41, was retired by the Southern Jaguars. Love was awarded the Oscar Robertson Leadership Award, earned the Individual Achievement Award from the National Council for Communicative Disorders, and was also an inductee into the Louisiana Sports, Illinois, NAIA, Basketball Coaches, and Helms halls of fame.
Tributes to Bob Love
Full obituary: Chicago Tribune
