Chicago Bulls star Bob Love dies, but legacy lives on
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The retired jersey numbers of former Chicago Bulls basketball players Bob Love, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen hang in the rafters at the Advocate Center where the team practices. Photo: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
Chicago is mourning the loss of Bulls legend Bob "Butterbean" Love, who passed away Monday after a long bout with cancer. He was 81.
For young fans, the name Bob Love may not be plastered on the back of your jerseys, but the forward dominated the Chicago Stadium court in the 1970s. He is considered the third-best Bull in the franchise's history.
- Yes, better than D. Rose. I said it.
Here's what you need to know about Bob Love:
First off, Love played ball in the heyday of the 1970s, against megastars like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Julius Erving. He led a feisty, competitive Bulls squad that routinely made the playoffs and in 1975 fell one game short of the NBA Finals.
He was a complete player: Love is the third-highest-scoring player in Bulls history, behind Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. He made his name on jump shots, rare for bigger players. He also routinely made the NBA's all-defensive teams.
Star in the making: Love was never supposed to be a star. He played at Southern University in Louisiana and was drafted in the 4th round of the 1965 NBA Draft. He bounced around until being traded to the Bulls in 1968.
- D. Rose, Pippen and Jordan were all first-round picks.
Overcoming adversity: Love had a stutter that kept him from getting work after his playing career ended in 1977. It also stopped him from being a bonafide NBA star since the only way you could get notoriety in that era was by talking to reporters.
- The Bulls games were rarely televised and the league was yet to turn into the juggernaut it has become, thanks in part to Jordan, who didn't arrive until 1984.
- "All my life I dreamed and prayed to be able to communicate normally with people," Love said in the 2002 New York Times article. "I would have given up everything else in my life to do it."
- Love worked on his stutter and was hired back by the Bulls in 1991 to speak about overcoming adversity at local schools and community centers.
The Bulls have only retired four numbers in its long history. Love's No. 10 hangs from the rafters, next to MJ, Pippen and Jerry Sloan.
The bottom line: Love may have been from another era, but he leaves a legacy that will be honored forever.