Kevin Love is a veteran American professional basketball player. He plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. Love is a five-time All-Star player and won a championship with the Cavaliers in 2016. Kevin also took part in the 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2012 Summer Olympics winning gold for the national team. How much is Kevin Love fortune?
He is a son of a former NBA player, Stan Love. As a young kid, Kevin was a top-ranked prospect out of high school. After one of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, Kevin entered the 2008 NBA draft. He forgo 3 years of college basketball to start earning money in the NBA. And it paid off. As of August 2020, Kevin Love fortune is more than $50 million. And he has many more millions left on his contract.
Let’s take a look at his career and contract situation.
| Name: | Kevin Wesley Love |
| Birthday: | September 7, 1988 |
| Net Worth: | $50 million |
| Height: | 2.03 m |
| Occupation: | American Professional Basketball Player |
Career Ups and Downs
The Memphis Grizzlies selected Love as the fifth overall pick. But the team traded him instantly to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Love played in the 2008 NBA Summer League and led all players in rebounding. For his NBA debut, Love scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a win over the Sacramento Kings.
During his rookie season, Love won Rookie of the Month in March. He finished the season ninth in the league in rebounding, and first among rookies. He led all rookies with 29 double-doubles. In his second season, Love took part in the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge.
In his second season, Love finished as the NBA’s best rebounder per 48 minutes with 18.4 rebounds per game. He beat Dwight Howard and Marcus Camby for the title. In his second season, Love started shooting more 3s, increasing his percentage to 16% of the overall field goal attempts.
Before his third season, the team traded Al Jefferson to make more room for Love. The result was more minutes. And in a game on November 12, 2010, Kevin recorded a 30-30 game. He is only the 19th player in NBA history to do so by grabbing 31 rebounds and scoring 31 points.
In his third season, Love made his NBA All-Star game debut. Commissioner David Stern selected him as a replacement for the injured Yao Ming. During the season, Love recorded a streak of 53 games with a double-double. It was the longest streak since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.
In his third season, Love led the league in rebounding for the first time with 15.2 boards per game. He won the NBA Most Improved player award. Love averaged at least 20 points and 15 rebounds, becoming the first player since Moses Malone in the 1982-83 season.
Before the 2011-12 season, Kevin Love said he wants to earn the “designated player” contract. It was his contract year. But the Timberwolves denied him the five-year deal. They offered him only a four-year deal with an opt-out after the third year. Eventually, Kevin signed the $62 million contract. After signing the deal, Love scored 31 points in a win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Kevin Love started the season with 15 straight double-doubles. And that was the first time a player did it since Hakeem Olajuwon at the beginning of the 1992-93 season.
During the same season, Love scored career-high 51 points in an overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He rebounded with 30 points and 21 rebounds in a win over the Denver Nuggets. He finished sixth in MVP voting and earned All-NBA second-team recognition.
His next season got marked by injuries. In the offseason, he broke the third and fourth metacarpal on his shooting hand. He returned to the floor earlier than expected. And then on January 3, 2013, he refractured his shooting time. After surgery, he missed eight to ten weeks of playing time.
Kevin Love’s career changed before the start of the 2014-2015 season. The Minnesota Timberwolves traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He got paired with Lebron James and Kyrie Irving to form a super-team fighting for a championship.
In his first season with the Cavaliers, Love struggled to find his rhythm and role on the team. He got fewer touches, fewer shots, and less playing time. But by the end of the season, he turned into a rebounding master. In his first playoff game, he scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help the team beat the Boston Celtics.
In Game 4 of the series, Love got injured after battling for a loose ball. Without him, the Cavaliers reached the 2015 NBA Finals but lost to the Golden State Warriors. On June 24, 2015, he opted out of his final year of the contract to enter free agency.
On July 9, 2015, Love re-signed with the Cavaliers. In his second season, he got more accustomed to his role. The team finished the season as the first seed in the Eastern Conference with a 57-25 record. In the first game of the playoffs, Love recorded his career-high with 28 points.
Cleveland made it to the Finals, but there, Love struggled. He recorded 17 points and 13 rebounds in a Game 1 loss. And then, he suffered a concussion in Game 2. He missed Game 3 but returned off the bench for the fourth game.
In Game 5, Kevin returned to the starting lineup but managed only 2 points in Cavs win. Despite his struggles in Game 6 and 7, Cleveland won the Finals. The team earned its first title and ended a 52-year major sports championship drought in Cleveland.
During the 2016-2017 season, Love averaged 19 points and 11 assists. He got selected as a reserve for the 2017 NBA All-Star Game. But he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee, forcing him to miss the game. He returned to action late the year, just before the playoffs. In Game 4 of the NBA Finals, he made six 3-pointers to help the Cavs win the game. Yet, Cleveland lost the Finals 4-1 to the Warriors.
The next year, Kevin averaged 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. He injured his left hand in January and missed 21 games. Again, he returned to action before the playoffs started. But he couldn’t help the Cavaliers avoid a sweep in the Finals, 4-0 to the Warriors.
After the 2018 Finals loss, Lebron James left Cleveland. In the aftermath of his departure, Cleveland aggressively pushed to secure Love for the long term. He signed a four-year, $120 million extension. After four games of the season, he injured his left foot. Kevin returned to action on February 8, 2019, after missing 50 games.
Kevin Love won a title with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he also won medals for the national team. He played on the team for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2012 Olympic team. Both teams won gold, with the 2012 Olympics team finishing undefeated.
Kevin Love dates Canadian model Kate Block for five years now.
Net Worth
With all those rich contracts, how much is Kevin Love wealth? Well, as of September 2020, Kevin Love net worth is more than $50 million. He signed a 4-year, $120 million extension in the summer of 2018. He has an annual average salary of $30 million.
That contract runs through the 2022-23 NBA season. In the last season of his current contract, Kevin will earn close to $29 million. And then in the summer of 2023, he will enter free agency at the age of 35 years.
His salary went up from $3 million per year for his rookie contract, and then to $13 million per year with his first contract with the Timberwolves.
Besides his NBA salary, Kevin Love earns money from endorsements. He has deals with Upper Deck, Panini, State Farm, Shock Doctor, Nike, and the Banana Republic.
With a fortune of more than $50 million, Love has an exquisite car collection. He has an Audi, BMW, Pagani Huayra BC, and Ferrari. In 2013, he bought a luxury designer house.
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