Who are Kevin Love’s parents Karen and Stan Love? What we know as Heat star announces NBA player father’s death

Miami Heat’s Kevin Love is mourning the loss of his father, the former NBA player, Stan Love. In a moving tribute posted to Instagram on April 27, Love announced that his father had passed away.

Kevin Love was born to Stan Love and his wife Karen. Kevin, who earlier played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, surely took after his father, who was drafted as a forward for the Baltimore Bullets in 1971, and later played for the Los Angeles Lakers. As per Fox8, Stan Love boasted of an average of 6.8 points and 4 rebounds over 226 games with both teams.

Kevin’s parents, Stan and Karen married in 1986, as per Rolling Stone. The couple had earlier lived in California, but they eventually settled down in Oregon. Essentially Sports notes that Karen worked as a nurse in neonatal intensive care.

In addition to Kevin, Stan and Karen had two more children, a son named Colin, and a daughter whom they named Emily.

While the cause of Stan Love’s death remains unclear, the 76 year old was most likely suffering from a long-term health issue which worsened during the last six months of his life, as per his son, Kevin’s statement. Kevin, while announcing the death of his father, wrote,

“Dad, you fought for a long time. The hardest stretch being these past 6 months. The most painful to witness being these last few weeks. And even at the end as you continued to deteriorate - I still saw you as a Giant. My Protector. My first Hero.”

Kevin, who is a five-time NBA All-star, observed that towards the end of his life, Stan wanted to be surrounded by his loved ones. From his message, it becomes clear that Kevin viewed Stan as a guiding force in his life. The grieving son wrote,

"You have undoubtedly been my greatest teacher. A role often served by a Father figure. You taught me admirable qualities like respect & kindness. Humor & wit. Ambition & work ethic. Grit & aggressive will. The insight that failure brings. And that time is our most precious commodity.”

While Kevin lamented over the times throughout his life when he was distant with his father, he felt grateful about the lessons he was able to learn from Stan. He added,

"Like all of us, my Dad was imperfect. But despite his flaws, and my own, we are a successful story of father and son. A never ending bond, rooted in love, that will forever remain eternal. Dad, I’m so proud to be your son. My only hope is that you’re proud of me. It was all I ever wanted. Thank you for everything.”

Stan Love was once a caretaker for his cousin, Brian Wilson

Stan Love’s brother Mike Love, and cousins Brian and Dennis Wilson formed a band, Beach Boys with their friend, Al Jardine.

Rolling Stone notes that Stan served as a caretaker for Brian who was suffering from addiction and mental health issues, and tried to provide some amount of stability for his struggling cousin.

In a conversation with Portland Tribune, Stan revealed that it was Dennis who used to supply Brian with dr*gs, and to protect Brian, he once broke into Dennis’ home and beat him. Speaking to the news outlet, he said,

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“Do you think (Dennis) got the message? Brian is a very fragile individual with a lot of mental challenges. For someone to give him access to cocaine — that pissed me off. People get what they deserve. Dennis was one of the most problem persons I've come across.”

As per Rolling Stone, Stan also attempted to be named as Brian’s conservator, a request which was denied, but did result in Brian being asked to sever any contact with a controversial therapist, Eugene Landy.

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