Utah Jazz forward Kevin Love is currently in his 18th season in the NBA, and he’s still managing to be somewhat productive on the court. Love has had a career he could be proud of, and during an appearance on The Old Man and the Three podcast, he spoke about how his father, Stan, helped him on his journey to the NBA.
“You kind of have to have a screw loose,” Love said. “You have to, to get to this level anyways. I’m an American-born white boy from suburban Oregon. I had to have something f***ing wrong with me to get to this point, right?
“My dad was a psycho, and he helped me do it,” Love added. “He would drop me off on Killingsworth in the inner city and next to Portland Community College and Jefferson High School, and be like, ‘Okay, it’s Thursday. We’ll pick you up Sunday. Bye.’ He grew up in Inglewood, and he was crazy about the game. So I think he taught that insane desire for me.”
Stan actually made it to the NBA himself, and he’d have known what it takes to get there. The Baltimore Bullets had selected him with the ninth pick in the 1971 NBA Draft, and he’d play three and a half seasons in the league. To go with the Bullets, Stan also suited up for the Los Angeles Lakers and then had a brief stint with the San Antonio Spurs in the ABA in 1975.
Stan, who passed away in April 2025, never became a star in the NBA, but it became clear over the years that Kevin potentially could become one. He shone at Lake Oswego High School and made quite an impression on future NBA point guard Jeff Teague in those years.
Teague used to believe White players were “sad” and thought he could punk Kevin when they faced off. He was wrong. Teague recalled Kevin scoring about 70 points against his team, and he had no choice but to admit he wasn’t sad.
Kevin averaged 33.9 points, 17.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 4.2 blocks per game as a senior at Lake Oswego. He then followed that up by starring for UCLA, putting up 17.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game as a freshman. Kevin led the Bruins to the Final Four in 2008 and then headed over to the NBA.
The Memphis Grizzlies would select Kevin with the fifth pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, but then traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves. That proved to be one of the few good moves the Timberwolves made during those days.
Kevin would blossom into a star in Minnesota. He made three All-Star and two All-NBA teams in his six seasons with the Timberwolves, but didn’t have much help around him and is said to have expressed a desire to be traded in 2014. Kevin was sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers and helped them win a championship in 2016. He continued to produce at a good level in the following years, but is past his best now.
The Miami Heat traded Kevin to the Jazz last summer, and he wasn’t expected to stick around for too long. A buyout appeared to be on the cards, but he is still there. The 37-year-old has been a great veteran presence for that young team and has shown flashes of his former self at times.
Kevin had 16 points and 16 rebounds in a 128-127 overtime loss to the Orlando Magic on Dec. 20, 2025. Just over a week before that, on Dec. 12, the five-time All-Star had 20 points and eight rebounds in a 130-126 win over the Grizzlies.
Kevin is now averaging 7.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game for the 12-23 Jazz in 2025-26. They’ll be taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder next at Paycom Center on Wednesday at 8 PM ET.
