UCLA Basketball: Bruin-Turned-Future Hall Of Famer Feels Revitalized On New Team

Five-time All-Star power forward/center Kevin Love long ago burnished his NBA legacy, following a brief-but-memorable stint with your UCLA Bruins alongside another future Hall of Famer, point guard Russell Westbrook.

Per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the 6'8" big man recently explained how he feels revitalized with his newest NBA club, the Miami Heat, whom he joined on a buyout deal a year ago. Last summer, following a run to the 2023 NBA Finals, he inked a two-year, $7.9 million deal to stay with Miami, using his non-Bird rights.

“I think the thing that’s most gratifying to me is that going to a new location or a new team or a new organization, new city, especially at this stage in your career, you never know what’s going to happen,” Love said. “And after that run last year, I got so much fun out of it, as well as guys I’ll have relationships for life, bigger than basketball. My daughter was born on June 10th, right after Game 4 (of the NBA Finals). We bought a new house in Miami. It’s almost like we got to start our life in a place where we have a lot of friends and a lot of great teammates and people in the organization who have become family in a pretty quick time, so it has been a very happy year.”

To hear Winderman tell it, Love has become one of the Heat's new veteran leaders, following the retirement last year of 20-year Miami lifer Udonis Haslem.

“I certainly want to embrace that leadership role, because I can kind of extend an olive branch and meet guys halfway and just relate to guys on different levels, whether they be Niko (Jovic) or be it Bam or be it Tyler (Herro) or Jimmy (Butler). There’s a way to get through to each guy that I do feel like I have the capability of doing,” Love offered.

The 35-year-old, selected with the No. 5 pick in the 2008 draft (Westbrook went No. 4, although on balance the dynamic duo would have gone first and second in the draft if teams knew then what we know now) also hinted at how long he intends to stay in the pros.

“For at least the next year or two, I’ll certainly be able to add a lot of value and be able to play at a high level...But after that? We’ll see. But as far as a mentor role, with good young guys, yeah, hell yeah, I can lead.”

Across 44 games (five starts), Love has emerged as a critical floor-spacing reserve big man for the 30-25 Heat, currently the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. He's averaging nine points on .440/.347/.776 shooting splits, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists.