Kevin Wesley Love (born September 7, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a five-time All-Star and a two-time member of the All-NBA Second Team, winning an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. He was also a member of the gold medal-winning United States national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2011, Love won the NBA Most Improved Player Award and led the league in rebounding.
The son of former NBA player Stan Love, Love was a top-ranked prospect out of Lake Oswego High School in Oregon. He played one season of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and led the team to a Final Four appearance in the 2008 NCAA tournament. Love was named a consensus First Team All-American and was voted player of the year in the Pac-10 Conference (now Pac-12). He elected to forgo his remaining three years of college eligibility and entered the 2008 NBA draft. He was taken fifth overall by the Memphis Grizzlies, and was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves on draft night for the third overall selection, O. J. Mayo, in an eight-player deal. During the 2010–11 season, Love established the longest streak for consecutive games recording double figures in points and rebounds since the ABA–NBA merger.
After six seasons with Minnesota, Love was traded to the Cavaliers in 2014. After making four straight NBA Finals with the team and winning a championship, Love suffered multiple injuries from 2018 to 2021. He slotted into a reserve role in 2021–22 and finished as runner-up for the Sixth Man of the Year award. However, reduced playing time the following season led Love to reach a contract buyout agreement with the Cavaliers. After nine seasons with Cleveland, he joined Miami in February 2023, where he reached his fifth NBA Finals in as many playoff appearances.
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Early life
Love was born on September 7, 1988, in Santa Monica, California, the second of three children to Karen and Stan Love. He grew up in Lake Oswego, Oregon, where he was childhood friends and Little League teammates with fellow future NBA star Klay Thompson. Love played basketball from his earliest days; as a child, he would practice his bounce passes with a cardboard box and study tapes of Wes Unseld. His father Stan, a former NBA big man who was an adept shooter, had his son develop his outside shooting and ballhandling skills.
Love played high school basketball for the Lake Oswego Lakers. In his sophomore season, he averaged 25.3 points, 15.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, leading the Lakers to the 2005 state championship game, where they lost to Jesuit High School. The following summer, Nike removed him from its Portland Elite Legends AAU team after he chose to participate in the Reebok ABCD Camp against other top recruits. He went on to play for the Southern California All-Stars, helping the team compile a 46–0 record while garnering three MVP awards. In his junior year, he averaged 28 points, 16.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game as Lake Oswego returned to the state championship game, this time winning behind Love's 24 points and 9 rebounds. In his senior season, he averaged 33.9 points, 17.0 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. Lake Oswego made their third straight trip to the state championship game, losing in a rematch of the prior year's final to South Medford High School and Love's rival Kyle Singler despite 37 points from Love. At the conclusion of the season, Love was named the Gatorade National Male Athlete of the Year. He was also a first-team Parade All-American. He finished his high school career as the all-time leading scorer in Oregon boys' basketball history, with 2,628 points.
College career
In July 2006, Love verbally committed to play college basketball at UCLA. He had also considered playing for North Carolina. Before the 2007–08 season, he received permission from Walt Hazzard to wear number 42 for the Bruins even though the school had retired the number for Hazzard in 1996. After arriving at UCLA, Love regularly sought out retired Bruins legends Bill Walton and John Wooden for advice. His decision to play for UCLA brought anger from fans of Oregon, his father's alma mater, where it was expected Love would play. Prior to a game at Oregon, Ducks fans obtained Love's cell phone number and left obscene messages as well as death threats; the fans also subjected Love's family to obscenities and threw garbage at them during the game. This event, along with similar incidents directed at other players, prompted a discussion of whether abuse by college basketball fans is becoming too extreme.
In the 2008 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament, the Bruins defeated the USC Trojans, featuring O. J. Mayo, in the semi-finals. Both Mayo and Love were nominated to the All-Pac-10 tournament team. Later, Love guided UCLA to the regular season Pac-10 conference championship, the conference tournament championship, and a No. 1 seed in the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Love helped the Bruins to the Final Four of the tournament, where they lost to the Memphis Tigers, whose season and tournament appearance, in turn, were later vacated. At the end of the 2007–08 regular season, Love was named consensus first-team All-American, Pac-10 Player of the Year, All-Pac-10, and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. He led the Bruins with 17.5 ppg, 10.6 rpg, and 23 double-doubles.
Professional career
Minnesota Timberwolves (2008–2014)
In a press conference on April 17, 2008, Love announced his intention to leave UCLA to enter the 2008 NBA draft. He was taken fifth overall by the Memphis Grizzlies, immediately after his teammate at UCLA, Russell Westbrook, who was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics. Following the draft, Love was traded, along with Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins to the Minnesota Timberwolves, with the third overall pick O. J. Mayo, Antoine Walker, Marko Jarić and Greg Buckner going to the Grizzlies. Love went on to play in the 2008 NBA Summer League and led all players in rebounding.
In his NBA debut on October 29, Love came off the bench to contribute 12 points and nine rebounds in a 98–96 win over the Sacramento Kings. The Timberwolves lost 15 of their first 19 games, prompting the dismissal of head coach Randy Wittman. Timberwolves general manager Kevin McHale assumed duties as head coach and they developed a close relationship. Under McHale, the Timberwolves improved their play in January by going 10–4, with Love averaging a double-double. Love was not selected to the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge, to the surprise of his teammates and coaches. After the team's leading scorer Al Jefferson was sidelined for the rest of the season with a torn ACL in February, Love's minutes increased, and he was named NBA Rookie of the Month for March. Love finished the season ninth in the league in rebounding, first among rookies, and ranked third in total offensive rebounds. Love also led all first-years with 29 double-doubles, the most by a Timberwolves rookie in franchise history. He also ranked first in the league in offensive rebound percentage, becoming the first rookie to lead the league since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984–85. Love was named to the 2009 NBA All-Rookie Second Team and finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting.
In the off-season, Love was invited to participate in the USA National Team mini-camp that was conducted from July 22 to 25 in Las Vegas. Love also generated attention from his Twitter account when he broke the story that Kevin McHale would not return to coach the Timberwolves for the 2009–2010 season.
Love began the season on the injured list when, in a pre-season game on October 16, 2009, against the Chicago Bulls, he broke the fourth metacarpal in his left hand by banging it against the elbow of teammate Oleksiy Pecherov. Following surgery, Love missed the first 18 games of the season. He returned against the New Orleans Hornets on December 4, 2009, and made immediate impact for the Timberwolves, who were struggling out of the gate with a 2–16 record.
Cleveland Cavaliers (2014–2023)
On August 23, 2014, the Timberwolves traded Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team trade. The Timberwolves received Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett from Cleveland, and Thaddeus Young from the Philadelphia 76ers, while the Philadelphia 76ers received Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved from Minnesota and a 2015 first-round draft pick from Cleveland. On February 8, 2015, Love scored a season-high 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting in a 120–105 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. On February 24, he scored 24 points on eight three-pointers, tying his career best, as he helped the Cavaliers defeat the Detroit Pistons, 102–93.
Love helped the Cavaliers win 34 of their final 43 games to finish the regular season as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 53–29 overall record. In his first career playoff game on April 19, Love recorded 19 points and 12 rebounds in a 113–100 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their first-round playoff match-up. Cleveland swept the series 4–0, but Love missed the remainder of the playoffs after he dislocated his left shoulder in the first quarter of Game 4 when he got tangled with the Celtics' Kelly Olynyk while battling for a loose ball. Love called it a "bush-league play", while Olynyk said he would "never intentionally hurt someone." The league ruled that Olynyk had "yanked Love's arm down", and suspended Olynyk for one game. Love underwent surgery to repair his shoulder and the team said he would need four to six months to recover. Without Love, the Cavaliers reached the 2015 NBA Finals but were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in six games. On June 24, 2015, Love opted out of the final year of his contract, worth $16.7 million in 2015–16, to return to free agency.
On July 9, 2015, Love re-signed with the Cavaliers on a five-year, $110 million contract. On November 23, 2015, he scored 27 of his season-high 34 points in the first half of the Cavaliers' 117–103 win over the Orlando Magic. On January 29, 2016, he had his best game since November 23, scoring 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting in a 114–106 win over the Detroit Pistons. That game also marked the first time all season that Love, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving each reached 20 points in a game.
The Cavaliers finished the regular season as the first seed in the Eastern Conference with a 57–25 record. In the first round of the playoffs, the Cavaliers faced the eighth-seeded Detroit Pistons, and in a Game 1 win on April 17, Love recorded playoff career highs with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Love helped the Cavaliers advance through to the Eastern Conference Finals where they faced the Toronto Raptors. He struggled in Games 3 and 4 of the series, scoring just 15 total points, before bouncing back in Games 5 and 6 to help the Cavaliers defeat the Raptors 4–2. The win advanced them through to the NBA Finals, where they faced the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Love's struggles in the NBA Finals were well documented. After recording 17 points and 13 rebounds in a Game 1 loss, a concussion suffered in Game 2 forced him to miss Game 3. His return in Game 4 saw him come off the bench to score 11 points, but with a 108–97 loss, the Cavaliers fell behind 3–1 in the series. Game 5 saw Love return to the starting line-up, but despite playing 33 minutes, he managed just two points as the Cavaliers forced a Game 6 with a 112–97 win. Game 6 also saw Love struggle, but the Cavaliers managed a 115–101 win to force a Game 7. The Cavaliers won Games 5 and 6 with Love contributing just nine total points on 2-of-8 shooting. With the series tied a 3–3, Love managed 9 points and 14 rebounds in Game 7 to help the Cavaliers win the series 4–3, as they became the first team to rally from a 3–1 finals deficit, beating the Warriors 93–89 in Game 7 to end a 52-year major sports championship drought in Cleveland. Many credited Love's defense on league MVP Stephen Curry in the final minutes of Game 7 as a main contributor to Cleveland sealing the win late in the championship clinching victory.
Miami Heat (2023–2025)
On February 20, 2023, Love signed with the Miami Heat. On February 24, Love made his Heat debut going scoreless and putting up eight rebounds in a 128–99 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. With the Heat, Love reached his fifth NBA Finals in just his fifth playoff run. However, the Heat went on to lose the Finals in 5 games to the Denver Nuggets.
On July 6, 2023, Love re-signed with the Heat on a two-year, $7.9 million contract, with a player option for the second year. He made 55 appearances (five starts) for Miami during the 2023–24 NBA season, averaging 8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. On June 30, 2024, Love declined his player option and a week later, he again re-signed with Miami on a two-year, $8 million contract.
Utah Jazz (2025–2026)
On July 7, 2025, Love was traded to the Utah Jazz in a three-team transaction. Utah also acquired Kyle Anderson from the Miami Heat, and a 2nd-round pick from the Los Angeles Clippers. Norman Powell was traded from Los Angeles to Miami, and John Collins was traded from Utah to Los Angeles.
National team career
Love was a member of the United States national team that won the gold medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Love made the 2012 Olympic team on July 7, 2012. The team finished undefeated, winning the gold medal over runners-up Spain.
Mired in unresolved trade talks between Minnesota and other NBA teams, Love withdrew himself from the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup (formerly World Championship) team. He was also selected for the 2020 Olympic team in Tokyo, but withdrew after the third exhibition game, stating that he was not fully recovered from the right calf injury that sidelined him for much of the 2020–21 season.
Career statistics
Personal life
Love's uncle, Mike, is a founding member of the Beach Boys and brother of Love's father, Stan. Mike and Stan's cousins include the brothers Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, and Dennis Wilson, who were also founding members of the Beach Boys. Love's aunt, Kathleen McCartney Hearst, was an accomplished triathlete. He has an older brother, Collin, and a younger sister, Emily. His middle name, Wesley, is in honor of Wes Unseld, the former Washington Bullets center and the Loves' family friend.
Love had been dating Canadian model Kate Bock for "nearly five years" before getting engaged on January 31, 2021. They married on June 25, 2022, at the New York Public Library in New York City. In June 2023, Bock gave birth to the couple's first child, during the 2023 NBA Finals.
In March 2018, in response to DeMar DeRozan's public discussion of his struggles with depression, Love revealed that he had been seeing a therapist for several months following a panic attack during a game in November 2017. In a first-person article in The Players' Tribune in March 2018 entitled, "Everyone Is Going Through Something", Love wrote: "Mental health is an invisible thing, but it touches all of us at some point or another." It continued: "I want to remind you that you're not weird or different for sharing what you're going through."
In August 2018, Love continued his advocacy for mental health awareness, discussing his family's history of depression, along with his own struggles with anxiety, rage, and "dark times" where he would hide in his room and not talk to anyone. Love committed to forming a foundation focusing on mental health, particularly for young boys, adding that he believes he's "found [his] life's work."
In 2023, Love announced his plan to return to Cleveland before retiring stating he is "definitely open to coming back and retiring" with the Cavaliers.
Philanthropy
In 2009, Love became the first among NBA players to join the Hoops for St. Jude charity program benefitting the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, after working with the hospital as part of the league's "Rookie Relief" community outreach program in his first season in the league.
In 2018, he established the Kevin Love Fund to provide tools and help for people to improve their physical and emotional well-being, with the goal of assisting more than 1 billion people over the next five years. Early beneficiaries included two programs to empower high school students to make healthy choices and the UCLA Athletics Department. On March 12, 2020, Love's fund gave $100,000 to the support staff of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, where the Cleveland Cavaliers play, who were unable to work during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. He was joined by Cavaliers center Andre Drummond, who donated an additional $60,000.
On April 26, 2020, The Kevin Love Fund sent a truckload of lunches to the staff of the Cleveland Clinic's Medical Intensive Care Unit and its COVID-19 testing sites, and appeared by FaceTime to personally thank the healthcare workers there. On June 22, 2020, he announced that his fund was pledging $500,000, matched by the UCLA Centennial Term Chair Match, to establish the Kevin Love Fund Chair in UCLA's psychology department. The $1 million investment will support a scholar at one of the top-ranked psychology departments in the United States whose work helps diagnose, prevent, treat and destigmatize anxiety and depression.
Separately, Love donated to UCLA Athletics what was reported by the Orange County Register to be $1 million in September 2016, matching a gift by fellow NBA star and UCLA alumnus Russell Westbrook. These and other gifts funded the construction of the Mo Ostin Basketball Center on UCLA's Westwood campus.
Endorsements and investments
In 2011, Love signed a 6-year endorsement contract with the Chinese shoe company 361 Degrees.
In 2012, Love became an investor in the lifestyle website 12Society.
In 2016, Love became the new style ambassador and campaign model for Banana Republic.
Media appearances
On a video game, Love appeared on the front cover of NCAA Basketball 09 in 2009.
On television, he appeared as himself on the Disney Channel show The Suite Life on Deck during the season 3 episode "Twister: Part 1" along with Dwight Howard and Deron Williams. He appeared in the HBO television series Entourage in its seventh-season finale "Lose Yourself".
On film, he was one of the stars in the feature length, 2008 documentary Gunnin' for That No. 1 Spot. And he was also in the short 2012 documentary My Life As An NBA Rookie.
Online, he was part of an internet advertising campaign in 2012 by PepsiCo for Pepsi Max that featured the character "Uncle Drew" played by Love's future NBA teammate Kyrie Irving. It was wildly popular, and reported to be the second most watched ad on YouTube that year and among the 50 most-viewed viral videos worldwide, garnering more than 22 million views. PepsiCo and its advertising agency Davie Brown Entertainment quickly rolled out another commercial later that year, "Uncle Drew: Chapter 2", this time co-starring Kevin Love. These and two more commercials led to the theatrical movie Uncle Drew in 2018 (Love was not part of that production).
Awards and honors
NBA
NBA Champion: 2016
5× NBA All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018
2× All-NBA Second Team: 2012, 2014
NBA free throw scoring leader: 2012
NBA rebounding leader: 2011
USA Basketball
FIBA World Championship gold medalist: 2010
Olympic gold medalist: 2012
NCAA
First Team All-American: 2008
Pac-10 Player of the Year: 2008
UCLA Hall of Fame (class of 2020)
High School
2006 Oregon State Championship (with Lake Oswego)
2007 Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award
ESPY Awards
2016 Best Team (as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers)
2020 Arthur Ashe Courage Award
Local
2021 Greater Cleveland Sports Awards - Humanitarian of the Year