Busboy And Back

Director of Community Relations,

Chicago Bulls

There's no question as to whose the highest scorer of all time in Chicago Bulls history. Of course, It's his airness, Michael Jordan. But what about the Number 2 man? Who is the man who scored an amazing 12,623 career points during his eight seasons with the Bulls?

Across America, loyal basketball fans know the answer. It's Bob Love, currently the Bulls director of community relations whose story sounds like something right out of a Hollywood movie...from rags-to-riches-to-rags-to...ultimate happiness.

Love grew up in poverty as one of fourteen children in rural Louisiana. As a child and throughout his early life he was unable to do what most of us take for granted--speak properly. He had a severe stuttering problem. There were long periods which he could not speak at all, as well as times when he just stumbled his way through.

To escape from his embarrassing speech problem, Love dreamed of one day becoming a basketball star. Not having the financial resources to afford a basket or basketball, young Bob nailed a coat hanger to the side of his grandmother's house and used his imagination, and what an imagination it turned out to be.

Bob Love rose through the ranks and became one of the top players ever to play the game of basketball. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, led the Bulls in team-scoring for seven straight years and was a three-time NBA All-Star. His life was unstoppable until...he hurt his back.

His playing days were over. The doctors told him he would never walk again, and 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. In the early 80's he hit rock bottom. He took a job busing tables and washing dishes at Nordstrom's in Seattle, Washington, at a measly $4.45 an hour.

Days, weeks, and months went by. It was the most humiliating and embarrassing time of his life. Former players and their children would see him cleaning tables, and Love recalls overhearing people whisper things like, "Hey, that's Bob Love...used to be a great basketball player...what a shame."

Those whispers made Bob stronger. He endured for over a year-and-a-half, and one day, one of the Nordstrom owners said he was doing a great job and offered to help him with his speech problem. They paid for his speech training. Bob was a new man.

In 1992, he received a call from Steve Schanwald, the Bulls vice president of marketing and broadcasting. The fans still loved him and they wanted him back. Would he consider a job as director of community relations? After all those years, he was finally coming home. He promptly accepted the job and dropped down to his knees and gave thanks.

The mid-'90s have bestowed some happy times upon Love. On January 19, 1994, his famous number 10 jersey was retired before a sellout crowd at Chicago stadium. Also, on December 8, 1995, Bob Love married his new bride, Rachel Dixon, at a ceremony during half-time of the Bulls-San Antonio game. Bob Love is living proof that dreams can come true to those who hang onto them.