Stan Love, the father of NBA star Kevin Love and the brother of Beach Boys singer Mike Love, has died at the age of 76.
Kevin, who currently plays on the Miami Heat, announced the death of his father in an Instagram post on Sunday night.
In the post, Kevin revealed that his father had ‘fought for a long time’ and that the worst of the battling was ‘these past six months. The most painful to witness bieng hese last few weeks.’
‘Dad, I’m so proud to be your son,’ Kevin posted in a lengthy and emotional tribute.
‘My only hope is that you’re proud of me. It was all I ever wanted. Thank you for everything.’
No cause of death has been officially revealed.
Stan Love, a former NBA star for the Baltimore Bullets and Los Angeles Lakers, has died at 76
Stan was the father of NBA champion and current Miami Heat star Kevin Love
He played four seasons in the NBA and ABA before retiring in 1975 averaging 6.8 points a game
Stan was born in Los Angeles in April 1949 and was the fourth of six children.
While his brother Mike went off to form The Beach Boys with cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, Stan played college basketball at the University of Oregon.
After four years he was selected ninth overall in the 1971 NBA Draft by the Baltimore Bullets – in the same year as future Hall of Famers Spencer Haywood and Artis Gilmore and All-Stars like Austin Carr and ‘Downtown’ Freddie Brown.
Stan played just four seasons in the NBA – playing one whole season with Baltimore before going on to play with the Los Angeles Lakers. His final basketball came with the San Antonio Spurs, then in the American Basketball Association.
Across his career, he averaged 6.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game across 226 career contests.
Kevin Love has been away from the Heat for the past ten games of the regular season due to personal reasons. He played Miami’s first play-in tournament game against the Chicago Bulls but then re-departed the team due to personal reasons again.
The Heat have ruled Kevin out for Game 4 on Monday night as Miami hopes to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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