What is Kevin Love's Net Worth?
Kevin Love is an American professional basketball player who has a net worth of $100 million. Love entered the NBA after being drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies. He was then immediately traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he made a name for himself as a strong player. In 2014, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kevin Love comes from a very interesting family, and his father, Stan, formerly played in the NBA as well.
Love first started to gain national attention after becoming a top-ranked prospect out of high school. He then continued to improve his reputation while playing for the UCLA Bruins for a single season. During his college years, he was named a First Time All-American and Player of the Year in the Pac-12 conference. He reached considerable heights during the 2010-2011 season when he racked up the longest streak for consecutive double figures in points and rebounds since the ABA-NBA merger. He also won a gold medal with the United States national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and another gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Early Life
Kevin Wesley Love was born on September 7th, 1988, in Santa Monica, California. Interestingly, Kevin's uncle is Mike Love, a founding member of the Beach Boys. That means he is cousins with Beach Boys members Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson. His aunt is Kathleen McCartney (now Kathleen Hearst), winner of the women's Ironman triathlon in February 1982. He grew up alongside future NBA star Klay Thompson and began playing basketball at a very young age. He had help from his father, Stan, who was known for his shooting ability in the NBA.
Kevin excelled during his high school years, amassing an impressive record and leading his team to the 2005 state championship game. By the end of his senior season, he had been named the Gatorade National Male Athlete of the Year and a "Parade" first-team All-American. He finished his high school career as the all-team leading scorer in Oregon boys' basketball history with 2,628 points.
Although Kevin only played a single season of college ball, he certainly made an impact for the UCLA Bruins. He was immediately harassed by fans of the University of Oregon, who felt that Love should have played for them since that was where his father, Stan, had played. Some fans even threw garbage at him and left obscene messages on his cell phone. However, by the end of his college career, Kevin had won a number of important honors.
NBA Career
Love was drafted in 2008 and was quickly traded by the Grizzlies to the Timberwolves. He then spent six seasons with this team before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014. In 2016, he was part of the championship-winning Cavaliers team. In 2011, he won the NBA Most Improved Player award.
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Mental Health
Kevin Love has been outspoken about his own struggles with mental health. In 2018, following DeMar DeRozan's confession that he had been struggling with depression for many years, Love revealed that he had been seeing a therapist. He first started getting help after suffering a panic attack during an NBA game in 2017. Since then, he has become a strong advocate of destigmatizing mental health issues and speaking out about things like depression. He has discussed his family history of depression, his own struggles with anxiety and rage, and his commitment to creating a better mental health environment for everyone. Today, Kevin insists that providing better mental health for young boys is his "life's work."
Contracts
During the 2011-2012 season, Love signed a four-year contract extension with the Timberwolves worth up to $62 million. This contract was signed amidst significant disputes, as Kevin wanted a five-year extension but was continuously denied this goal by the Timberwolves executives. At one point, GM David Kahn even marched into the training room and shoved a contract offer sheet into Kevin's hands. In 2015, Love opted out of the final year of his contract, which was worth about $17 million, and became a free agent. In 2018, Kevin signed a four-year, $120-million contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Brand Endorsements
Love has supplemented his income with several notable brand endorsement deals over the years. In 2011, he signed a six-year deal with 361 Degrees, a Chinese shoe company. In 2012, he became associated with the lifestyle website 12Society as both an investor and a promoter. In 2016, it was announced that Kevin Love would be a style ambassador and campaign model for Banana Republic. In 2012, he was part of the online internet campaign conducted by Pepsi that featured "Uncle Drew." He has since appeared in a number of spin-off productions.
Career Earnings
In a typical year, Kevin has been known to earn $40 million between salary and endorsements. As of this writing he has earned a little over $200 million from NBA salaries alone.
Philanthropy
Kevin Love has donated large sums of money to various charities over the years, and he has established his own personal charity called the Kevin Love Fund. In 2020, he donated $100,000 to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to pay the salaries of staff members who were unable to work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Andre Drummond, another Cavaliers player, soon followed suit with a donation of $60,000. Also in 2020, the Kevin Love Fund sent a truckload of lunches to staff at Cleveland's Medical Intensive Care Unit, and he also sent lunches to various COVID-19 testing sites.
Later in 2020, Love announced that his fund was donating $500,000 to support a scholar at one of the top-ranked psychology departments in the United States. These scholars will then have the financial support necessary to help with diagnosing, preventing, treating, and destigmatizing issues related to anxiety and depression. In 2016, Love donated $1 million to UCLA Athletics. This donation was matched by Russell Westbrook. The money went towards creating UCLA's Mo Ostin Basketball Center.
