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BOB LOVE
INSPIRATIONAL CHICAGO BULLS LEGEND
Growing up poor and one of fourteen children in rural Louisiana, Bob Love had a dream to play in the NBA. Not able to afford a basket or basketball, he nailed a coat hanger to the side of his grandmother’s house and used his imagination.
Despite his great success as an athlete, Bob was not able to do something we all take for granted; speak. As a child, he dreamed of speaking without a severe stutter; to overcome the long periods where he could not speak at all and not stumble over his words. Forty years later, Bob would realize his dream and become a professional speaker.
As the greatest player ever to wear a Chicago Bulls uniform before a guy named Michael Jordan, Bob scored 12,263 points in his career. A three-time NBA All-Star who averaged 23.00 points per game in eight seasons, Bob’s jersey was retired on January 14, 1994.
Few life stories are as dramatic as Bob Love’s. After injuring his back in an NBA game, doctors told him he would never walk again. His wife left him, taking all their belongings saying she did not want to be married to a “stutterer and a cripple.”
Unable to speak, Bob tried for seven years to find a steady job and in 1984, found work as a dishwasher for $4.45 an hour. While at work, Bob found a speech therapist who helped him learn to speak. At the age of 45, Bob realized his dream of being able to speak without stuttering.
The Chicago Bulls heard Bob’s story and called him looking for a Director of Community Relations who would earn a salary speaking about the Bulls and life in general. Bob accepted the offer and is now speaking on behalf of the Bulls in the Chicago-land community.
A hero to many, Bob has received the Individual Achievement Award from the National Council for Communicative Disorders; selected for the highest award from the NBA, the Oscar Robertson Leadership Award; and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the March of Dimes.
Bob Love’s story has been chronicled by Barbara Walters for ABC’s 20/20 news show, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and many other national news organizations.
Bob’s presentations focus on the importance of dreams and how to hold on to them. He uses vivid examples from his own life story to teach audiences how they can overcome adversity and be motivated for success through his five rules for the game of life.
