051 - Stan Love

I Get Around. Wouldn’t It Be Nice … Brother Mike singing lead. Cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson rounding out the family act. Friend Al Jardine on guitar … “I used to sing, but I don't anymore. I get embarrassed.” Couldn’t play piano … Asked if Stan ever had a shot with the band, Mike didn’t sugarcoat it: “What can you do with raw material like this?” … “I was so driven. My whole thing was to be as successful as I could—to get out from his shadow.” … Helped that he could hoop. And was 6-foot-9. Son Kevin, decades later: “You can’t teach height.” Should know. Ended up an inch taller … Wanted to play at UCLA. But UCLA didn’t want him. So he headed to the Pacific Northwest. To play at Oregon … Ducks teammate Larry Holliday: “He played with his back to the basket, had a nice hook, a very good outside shot. He would've developed a three-pointer as good as his son's if the line had been there.” … Wooden: “He is an intense competitor, real strong and tough. Sometimes he's too intense and too competitive—calling him tough is putting it mildly.” … His take? “I admit I am very competitive, but it’s just that I can’t stand losing.” … Got better every season. Scoring: 17.8, 20.8, 24.6. Rebounding: 9.5, 10.7, 11.3. Shooting: .452, .506, .518 … Set 20 school marks, including points in a single game (40), season (639), and career (1,644) … AP and UPI Honorable Mention All-American. Twice Pac-8’s leading scorer and first-team all-conference … Most memorable game, Feb. 21, ’70: Put up 19 and 11 in a 78-65 upset over No. 1 UCLA at McArthur Court, snapping the Bruins’ 25-game win streak. Wooden: “I knew it was coming. We’ve been ripe.” … Draft stock? NBA scout Stu Inman: “I like his quickness and his ability to develop shots for himself. He runs well and plays with intensity.” … Understood the challenge.“It’s tough enough going from college to the pros, but now I have to learn a new position—forward.” … First round pick in ’71 by both the ABA's Texas Chaparrals and the NBA's Baltimore Bullets … Chaps offered more money, but not all of it guaranteed. The Bullets offered less, but Abe Pollin guaranteed it all. Officially: “I wanted to play in the more established league against the better players.” Four years, $460,000 … Two seasons in Baltimore. Buried behind Hall of Famers. “You can’t put Elvin Hayes or Wes Unseld on the bench so I can play.” Carved out a regular rotation spot anyway—74 games as a rookie, 72 the next … Mar. 24, '73: Career-high 28 points (10-20, 8-8) in a 120-116 overtime win over Cleveland … Lovable moment? T'd up for hanging on the rim "like Tarzan" … But was homesick. “I sure miss the West Coast. This is a different world.” … Baltimore teammate Fred Carter: "Stan was a California dreamer who followed a different drummer. He wore flip-flops to games, even in winter." … Summer of ’73: Dealt to Los Angeles for a second-round pick and cash … Lakers GM Pete Newell: “We traded for Stan because we believe he has the potential to be a forward in this league. Stan can shoot and he has size.” … Spent parts of two seasons in LA—42 games the first year, 30 the next ... Chronicled that last season in a 184-page diary, Love in the NBA (Saturday Review Press, $7.95). Had help—Ron Rapoport banged away on the typewriter … Didn’t finish the year. Cut Feb. 10 to make room for Connie Hawkins, returning from injury … “We had an abundance of forwards in Los Angeles.” The Hawk. Happy. Riles. Cazzie. Corky. Kermit. “My teammates. My friends. My enemies.” … Exploded at Sharman on the way out. “It went on for half an hour. I kept wishing he’d throw me out.” … Spurs signed him six days later, Feb. 16—the book ends there ...

Love in the ABA. That’s what he was going to call the sequel. Never wrote it—not enough material …

Debuted Feb. 19: Two points in a 113-91 loss to Dr. J and the Nets ... By March, he’d won over Spurs fans. “The high point for me was just getting in the game.” … Last game? April 1—no joke. Four points in a 130-113 win over Bo Lamar and the Qs … Sixty-four minutes over a dozen games. Per-36: 16.3 points, 13.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists, with 2.3 blocks … Spurs cut him loose after the playoffs ... Caught on with the Hawks that summer. Didn’t make it out of camp, though. Still impressed: Skinny-dipping at the team hotel … “I guess things like that have given me a reputation as a flake. But I was hot and tired, there were no showers, and I look at it as just being a little ahead of everybody else.” … Oct. 20: Signed with the Baltimore Claws. Practiced that afternoon. Returned to his hotel room. “And turned on the TV just in time to hear the sports announcer say the Claws had just folded.” Then the phone rang. It was the Claws’ GM Lee Silverman: “Stan, the club just folded and I just wanted to tell you personally before you heard it on television.” … Unable to hook on with a pro team stateside. Went overseas to play in France for three-quarters of a season ... Sept. '77: The Beach Boys offered any NBA team a free concert if they'd sign him. No takers … Decades later, Atlanta's two dailies reported that the Beach Boys had also tried to buy the Hawks from Ted Turner. No deal … Born Stanley S. Love, April 9, 1949, Los Angeles. Nicknamed Big Tipper for his work on the offensive glass ... After basketball? Bodyguard and assistant to Brian Wilson. Caretaker at the Beach Boys' Hawaii estate. Made headlines filing for conservatorship of Brian. Sports talk-show host. Ran youth basketball camps … Inducted into the Oregon HOF, ’94 … Passed at 76 on Apr. 24, 2025, Lake Oswego, OR—after a lengthy illness … Love continues: Son Kevin just completed his 18th NBA season in ’25-26.

Sourcing: Atlanta Constitution, 4/8/1995; Atlanta Journal, 2/26/1976, 4/8/1995; Albany Democrat Herald, 3/17/1971; Austin American, 3/18/1971 [AP Honorable Mention All-American]; Baltimore Evening Sun, 4/28/1971 [signed multi-year deal estimated at $500,000; wanted to play in more established league quote; negotiated by Grilli; Texas offered more money]; Baltimore Sun, 2/23/1971 [Stan admits competitive; dislikes losing], 7/31/1971 [position change, from center to forward], 9/14/1972 [flake image; tarzan dunk; evil eye to coach Shue; rowed off court], 10/22/1975 [Claws GM Lee Silverman], 1/6/1976 [book review], 7/21/2015 [Fred Carter quote]; Capital Journal, 6/17/1970, Capital Times, 5/8/1990; Corvallis Gazette-Times, 5/14/1970, 2/17/1971 [Inman quote Stan’s abilities], 3/1/1972 [droopy mustache]; Daily Breeze, 3/1/1966 [averaging 16.8 as a junior at Morningside High], 5/15/1967 [Stan will attend Oregon], 1/15/1968, 2/23/1971 [Wooden competitor quote], 12/9/1971 [miss West Coast], 1/17/1973, 8/24/1973; Eugene Register-Guard, 2/26/1969 [used to sing quote; band’s origin story], 1/28/1971, 4/28/1971 [signed multi-year deal between 400,000 to 450,000; set 20 school records; Ferry: Stan has good hands and great desire], 2/8/1974, 10/29/1994, 12/2/2007; Long Beach Independent, 3/24/1967 [All-CIF], 2/22/1970 [Wooden ripe quote after upset loss to Oregon], 2/25/1974 [efficient in defense]; Long Beach Press-Telegram, 11/22/1974; Los Angeles Times, 8/24/1973 [trade], 2/13/1976 [rec. league suspension], 11/13/1975, 12/7/1975 [Book review; publisher details], 4/4/2008 [Stan’s driven, shadow quote], 4/29/2025 [obituary]; Oregonian, 1/12/1973; Oregon Journal, 2/16/1971 [Inman quote re Stan’s abilities], 3/17/1971 [UPI Honorable Mention All-American], 10/1/1977 [Vecsey: Beach Boys offered teams a free concert for signing Love], 7/21/1991; San Antonio Express-News, 2/18/1975 [abundance of forwards; collect paychecks; my strongest game is a wide-open, fast-breaking offense; living near ocean]; San Francisco Chronicle 2/14/1970 [scored 40 in college]; Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 3/19/2008 [wanted to go to UCLA; led pac-8 in scoring twice]; Spokesman-Review, 12/29/1969, 2/23/1970; Statesman Journal, 12/21/1971, 1/15/1986; kerryeggers.com, accessed 7/14/2026 [Holliday quote; Stan quote re Hayes, Unseld]; youtube.com, accessed 7/14/2026 [brother Mike quote re Stan’s singing]; Love in the NBA (Love, Rapoport, 1975).