From 1969 to 1976, NBA standout Bob Love led the Chicago Bulls in scoring every season. He holds the Bulls' playoff record for most consecutive free throws made in a game. And his 12,623 points make him second only to Michael Jordan in scoring in Chicago Bulls history. But none of these records helped Love after a back injury ended his professional career. He hadn't just lost his game, he'd lost perhaps the only job in which he could succeed without having to speak. And that meant everything: Since childhood, Love had struggled with a severe stuttering problem that often rendered him completely unable to speak for long periods of time.
Love's livelihood was gone, and his wife soon followed. He found himself suddenly alone and jobless in a world with which he could not communicate. "Think about it," Love says. "I'm six-foot-eight, I weigh 260 pounds, and I was stuttering and having all kinds of facial tics and contortions. And I'm trying to approach strangers?" After seven years of looking for a steady job, Love took the only one he could find: washing dishes at the Nordstrom Cafe in Seattle for $4.45 per hour. After he'd spent 10 years on the job, the company helped Love find a speech therapist who, after 18 months of intensive therapy, helped him overcome his stutter. Then, in 1992, Love's phone rang. The vice president of marketing and broadcasting for the Chicago Bulls wanted Love back, as director of community relations.
Now, Love travels around the country representing the team. And in these appearances, he tells his own story. "I'm not perfect, and I get up there and tell a real life story, with all the ups and downs," Love says. He says he stresses the importance of what he calls never playing the victim in life. "It's easy to tell people what you should do, but what I talk about is what I did do. And through it all, I never gave up."
The irony of a lifelong stutterer becoming a spokesperson does not escape Love. "Every night I used to get on my knees and I would pray. Not for money, love, or fame; I would ask the Lord to please help me find a way to speak. I kept that prayer for 45 years, and I still say it every time I'm about to get out on a stage," he says. "And every time I get up there, I feel just like it's tip-off time at a basketball game. Thousands of people are cheering, there are cameras everywhere, and I'm ready for a forty-point game."