5 things you probably didn’t know about the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kevin Love

By Chad Porto | Dec 2, 2022

Dec 13, 2021; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) shoots a three-point basket in the fourth quarter against the Miami Heat at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

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Aug 12, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Team USA forward Kevin Love watches play on the floor during the second day of the USA men’s basketball national team minicamp at Mendenhall Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Love is named after an NBA Legend

Kevin Love’s family is known for a lot of things, but more on them later. What some people may not know is that Loves’ family was very close with NBA legend and Washington Wizard (then Baltimore Bullets) star, Wes Unseld.

Unseld is a former five-time All-Star, MVP, NBA Champion, and Hall of Famer, yet for a time, he was also close friends with Love’s father, Stan. Stan and Unseld were close friends during their time together as teammates, and because of that, he named his son Kevin Wesley Love after Unseld.

In a bit of irony, Unseld went into the NBA Hall of Fame the same year Kevin Love was born.

Kevin Love is connected to another legend through UCLA

By now, obviously, you know that Love is a second-generation NBA player. He also has a tie to an NBA icon like Wes Unseld. That’s not his only connection to basketball legends of yesteryear, as Love is tied to Walt Hazzard, a UCLA standout and former NBA All-Star. During Love’s recruitment and admission into UCLA, he wanted to wear #42, a number that had since been retired.

Taking it upon himself, he asked Hazzard for his permission to use the number during Love’s stint at UCLA. Hazzard gave Love the go-ahead, and Love would spend his time picking the brains of basketball icons while at the school, a move that has clearly paid off.

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