Stanley S. Love (April 9, 1949 – April 27, 2025) was an American professional basketball player in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) and

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

. Love was the father of basketball player

Kevin Love Kevin Wesley Love (born September 7, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a five-time All-Star and a two-time member of the All-NBA Second Team, winning an N ...

and the younger brother of

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

singer

Mike Love Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who is one of the vocalists of the Beach Boys, of which he was an original member alongside his cousins Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson and their frien ...

. During the late 1970s, Stan was also employed as a bodyguard, trainer, and assistant to the Beach Boys'

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

, the Loves' cousin.

Background

Love grew up in the Baldwin Hills area of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and was the fourth of six children to Milton Edward Love, a union

sheet metal worker Sheet or Sheets may refer to: * Bed sheet, a rectangular piece of cloth used as bedding * Sheet of paper, a flat, very thin piece of paper * Sheet metal, a flat thin piece of metal * Sheet (sailing), a line, cable or chain used to control the cle ...

, and Emily Glee Wilson Love, a singer. His older brother is

. Mike, along with cousins

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

Carl Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

, and

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their drummer and the middle brother of bandmates Brian Wilson, Brian and Carl Wilson as well as ...

, later formed

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

Basketball career

Stan Love at Morningside High School - 1967

A 6'9" forward, Love graduated from

Morningside High School Morningside High School was a public high school in Inglewood, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. A part of the Inglewood Unified School District, it is the second largest high school in the city after Inglewood High School. In 2 ...

(where he was a center in his senior year),

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

, then played collegiately for the

from 1968 to 1971. Love was the 9th pick in the

1971 NBA draft The 1971 NBA draft was the 25th annual NBA draft, draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 29 and 30, 1971, before the 1971–72 NBA season, 1971–72 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting ...

, chosen by the Baltimore Bullets. He was also selected by the

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas, for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

in the 1971 ABA draft. He had also been selected in the 1970 ABA Draft by the

Texas Chaparrals These redirects lead to their targets in accordance with the naming conventions for common names and can help with writing and searches. Do not replace these redirected links with piped links. See also * Wikipedia:Naming conventions (common ...

while still an underclassman. Love had a four-year professional career with Baltimore, the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

of the

, and the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, then of the

. He retired from the sport in 1975, with per-game averages of 6.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.5 fouls for 14.7 minutes in 239 career games. Love was inducted into the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994.

Caretaker to Brian Wilson

In the late 1970s, Love, alongside professional model

Rocky Pamplin Rushton Pamplin (August 3, 1949 – December 10, 2022) was an American model who, together with Stan Love, was employed as a bodyguard and caretaker for the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson from 1977 to 1979. Background Rushton Pamplin was born in 19 ...

, was employed as a full-time "keeper" to

, in an effort to make Brian more productive for

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

, often by physical force. Love's brother

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

is a founding member of The Beach Boys. In 1982, Love and Pamplin were fined $750 and placed on six months' probation for a

home invasion A home invasion, also called a hot prowl burglary, is a sub-type of burglary (or in some jurisdictions, a separately defined crime) in which an offender unlawfully enters into a building residence while the occupants are inside. The overarching i ...

and assault on group member

. In 1990, Love filed a petition to be appointed Brian Wilson's conservator, partly resulting in the court-ordered severing of personal and financial ties between Wilson and his therapist

Eugene Landy Eugene Ellsworth Landy (November 26, 1934 – March 22, 2006) was an American psychologist known for his controversial 24-hour therapy program and treatment of celebrity clients. Landy's regimen involved supervising and micromanaging his c ...

in 1991.

Personal life and death

Love married Karen in 1986 and was the father of three children, including, NBA champion

, who has played for the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, and

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

. Love resided in

Lake Oswego, Oregon Lake Oswego ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Population in 2020 was 40,731, an 11.2% increase since 2010, making it the ...

. Stan Love died following a long, degenerative illness on April 27, 2025, at the age of 76. Love was the brother of musician

and

Pink Martini Pink Martini is an American band founded in 1994 by pianist Thomas Lauderdale in Portland, Oregon. Group members call it a little orchestra that crosses several styles, such as Classical music, classical, Latin music, Latin, traditional pop, and ...

harpist Maureen Love.

Career statistics

NBA/ABA

Source:

Regular season

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" , - ! Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! 3P% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! SPG ! BPG ! PPG , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

(NBA) , 74 , , 17.9 , , .451 , , , , .736 , , 4.6 , , .7 , , , , , , 7.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

(NBA) , 72 , , 13.8 , , .436 , , , , .790 , , 4.2 , , .6 , , , , , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

L.A. Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Lakers play their hom ...

(NBA) , 51 , , 13.7 , , .428 , , , , .766 , , 3.3 , , .9 , , .5 , , .4 , , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

(NBA) , 30 , , 14.4 , , .438 , , , , .712 , , 3.2 , , .9 , , .5 , , .4 , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

(ABA) , 12 , , 5.3 , , .433 , , – , , .750 , , 2.0 , , .8 , , .0 , , .3 , , 2.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career (NBA) , 227 , , 15.2 , , .440 , , , , .751 , , 4.0 , , .8 , , .5 , , .4 , , 6.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career (NBA & ABA) , 239 , , 14.7 , , .440 , , – , , .751 , , 3.9 , , .8 , , .5 , , .4 , , 6.6

Playoffs

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" , - ! Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! SPG ! BPG ! PPG , - , style="text-align:left;",

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, style="text-align:left;",

(NBA) , 4 , , 3.5 , , .250 , , – , , 1.5 , , .3 , , , , , , .5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, style="text-align:left;",

(NBA) , 1 , , 7.0 , , .000 , , – , , 1.0 , , .0 , , , , , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, style="text-align:left;",

(NBA) , 2 , , 4.5 , , .667 , , .667 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .5 , , .0 , , 3.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 7 , , 4.3 , , .300 , , .667 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , .5 , , .0 , , 1.1

References

External links

BasketballReference.com: Stan Love

U of O Athletics Hall of Fame: Stan Love

''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' (SI.com) January 9, 2007 * * Carlin, Peter Ames. Catch A Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. 1st. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale, 2006. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Stan 1949 births 2025 deaths American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) draft picks Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Basketball players from Los Angeles Bodyguards Dallas Chaparrals draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players Mike Love Oregon Ducks men's basketball players Power forwards San Antonio Spurs players Small forwards Basketball players from Lake Oswego, Oregon Texas Chaparrals draft picks Wilson family (show business)