Who doesn’t know this young and brave player? Kevin Wesley Love, also famous as Kevin Love, is an NBA player who currently plays basketball for Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kevin Wesley is also an NBA championship winner with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and a five-time All-Star.
There is a saying If it’s important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse. This article will explore how Kevin found his way to the NBA and made basketball his priority.
But, before that, let’s dwell on the go-getter quick facts about Kevin Love.
Table of Contents
Kevin Love- Quick Facts
| Full Name | Kevin Wesley Love |
| Birth Date | September 7, 1988 |
| Birth Place | Santa Monica, California |
| Nick Name | Menace, Lil Kev, Knuckle-Pushups, The Disaster Master of Plaster |
| Religion | Not Known |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Education | Lake Oswego High School, University of California, Los Angeles |
| Horoscope | Virgo |
| Father’sName | Stan Love |
| Mother’sName | Karen Love |
| Siblings | (Sister)Emily (Brother)Love, Collin Love |
| Age | 33 Years Old |
| Height | 6 feet 8 inches (2.03m) |
| Weight | 251 lb (114 kg) |
| Shoe Size | 19 US or 18.5 UK |
| Hair Color | Dark Brown |
| Eye Color | Blue |
| Body Measurement | CHEST – 47 IN or 119 CM, ARMS / BICEPS – 16 IN or 41 CM, WAIST – 37 IN or 94 CM |
| Build | Athlete |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Girlfriend | Kate Bock |
| Position | Center/ Power Forward |
| Profession | NBA player |
| Net Worth | $50 million |
| Salary | around $24.4 million |
| Currently Plays for | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| League | NBA |
| Active Since | 2008 |
| Social Media | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook |
| Merch | Jersey, Poster |
| Last Update | June, 2022 |
Early Life
On 7 September 1988, Love was born to his father, Stan Love, and mother, Karen Love, in Santa Monica, California.
He was the second of three children to his parents, his older brother Colin, and Emily.
His father, Stan, was also a big man of NFL who was an adept shooter. And undoubtedly, his father’s basketball skills help him grow outside shooting and ballhandling skills.
He was born in Santa Monica; later on, he shifted to Lake Oswego, Oregon, where he met Klay Thompson, a future NBA star and his little league teammate.
Since his childhood, he tried harder for his bounce passes with a cardboard box and keenly observed the videos of Wes Unseld.
Coming on to his schooling days, he played basketball for Lake Oswego Lakers.
And as a 10th-grade player, he scored 25.3 points, 15.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, making an emphatic win to the 2005 state championship game, unfortunately lost to Jesuit High School.
Later on, he took part in the Reebok ABCD Camp against other top-ranked players.
He then led the team to make a perfect score of 46-0 while playing for the Southern California All-Stars and collected three MVP awards.
He managed to score 28 points in his junior year, 16.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. In his senior year, he scored 33.9 points, 17.0 rebounds, and four assists per game.
With this, Lake Oswego made their way to the state championship game, where they lost in a rematch with South Medford High School and Love’s competitor Kyle Singler.
Coming to an end, Love received the Gatorade National Male Athlete of the Year. He was also a first-team Parade All-American.
He accomplished his high school career with 2,628 points as the all-time leading scorer in Oregon boys’ basketball history.
College Career
In July 2006, Kevin decided to play college basketball at UCLA for North Carolina. His decision to play for North Carolina brought massive outrage from the University of Oregon fans who wanted him to play for the college.
He also received calls and texts that included death threats. The fans additionally oppressed Love’s family to the risk and threw trash at them during the game.
Before his rookie year, he took permission from Walt Hazzard to wear number 42 for the Bruins even though the school has retired the number 42 for Hazzard in 1996.
In the Pacific-10 Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament, Love led the Bruins to win over the USC Trojans with O. J. Mayo in the semifinals.
Later they both were nominated to the All-Pac-10 tournament team.
Love was proved to be a lucky mascot who served the team to the semifinal NCAA championship semifinals, where they lost to Memphis Tigers.
At the end of the regular season, Love had his first team All-American. He also was honored with the Pac-10 Player and Freshman of the Year awards.
Professional Career
Minnesota Timberwolves
After his junior season at UCLA, Love decided to try out for the NBA draft 2008. Luckily, Memphis Grizzlies selected Love as its fifth overall pick.
He was then transferred to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played in the NBA Summer League, where he surpassed the league in the rebound.
Kevin Love debuted in 2008. He played remarkably in the first few months in the NBA. And this was a huge payback to the ones who insulted him during the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge.
He, without any pause, continued to top the charts. And in March 2009, he was praised with the Rookie of the Month award.
Coming to the end of his rookie season, he won over all the rookies in the NBA and had 29 double-doubles, making him the first Minnesota Timberwolves player to accomplish the feat.
His aunt, Kathleen McCartney Hearst, was a successful triathlete.
There is nothing hidden about Kevin’s love affair. The handsome and dashing player Kevin Love is not single; he is committed.
As per sources, Kevin has been in a relationship with the beautiful Canadian model Kate Bock for “nearly six years.”
The couples in 2021 got engaged with each other and hoping they will soon tie their wedding knot.
Love was the first-ever NBA player to join the band for the St. Jude charity program by the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after working with the hospital as part of the league’s “Rookie Relief” community.
Love has taken his middle name from Wes Unseld, the former Washington Bullets center and the Loves’ family friend.
Mental Health Warrior
In March 2018, Kevin came up, unveiling his depression struggles in response to DeMar DeRozan‘s public discussion.
Love confronted that he visited a therapist for several months following a panic attack during a game in November 2017.
In August 2018, Love advocated for mental health awareness, disclosing his family’s history of depression, struggles, anxiety, anger, and dark times.
He would stay all alone in his room and not talk to anyone.
Philanthropist
In 2018, he found the Kevin Love Fund to help more than 1 billion people improve their physical and emotional well-being, fighting anxiety for the coming five years.
On March 12, 2020, Love’s fund donated $100,000 to help the staff of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, where the Cleveland Cavaliers play, who were unable to work during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
Cavaliers center Andre Drummond also joined him, funding an amount of $60,000.
The Kevin Love Fund provided a truckload of lunches to the Cleveland Clinic’s Medical Intensive Care Unit staff and personally thanked the healthcare workers using facetime in April 2020.
