Stan Love, 1949-2025

*Photo credit to Getty Images, Focus on Sport 1975

Former NBA and ABA veteran Stan Love has passed away at the age of 76. 

A 6’9 forward, Love was born in Los Angeles, the younger brother of the Beach Boys’ Mike Love. 

Love attended Morningside High School in Inglewood, Calif., a school that also had notable alumni in NBA veterans Byron Scott and Elden Campbell as well as WNBA veterans Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson. 

An alumnus of the University of Oregon, Love played for the Ducks from 1968-1971. He averaged 17.8 points and 9.5 rebounds as a freshman, and averaged at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in his junior and senior seasons - 20.8 points and 10.7 rebounds as a junior and 24.6 points and 11.3 rebounds as a senior. At Oregon, Love was twice named All-Pac 12. 

In 1971, Love was drafted ninth overall by the Baltimore Bullets, where he played with Hall of Famers Wes Unseld, Earl Monroe, and Gus Johnson. Love played in 74 games as a rookie, and in 17.9 minutes per game averaged 7.9 points and 4.6 rebounds on 45.1% shooting on 7.2 shots per game. 

Love played one more season in Baltimore before a 1973 trade to his hometown Lakers. In 81 games with the Lakers, he averaged 6.2 points per game. He finished his career playing 12 games with the ABA’s San Antonio Spurs in 1974-75 where he was a teammate of George Gervin. 

In his four years in both leagues, Love averaged 6.6 points in 14.7 minutes per game in 239 career games. In 1994, he was an inductee into the University of Oregon’s Athletics Hall of Fame. 

In 1988, Love’s wife Karen gave birth to Kevin, who would become the fifth-overall draft choice in the 2008 NBA Draft. Kevin has made five all-star games, was a 2016 NBA champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and is a probable future Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame inductee. 

RIP, Stan Love.