Customer Reviews

The Bob Love Story: If It's Gonna Be, It's Up to Me

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It's amazing that a one-time NBA super-star ends up mopping floors, waiting on tables and enduring major abuse and embarrasment while trying to make ends meet...every NBA executive should read this to ensure that League policy does not allow this to happen again. I bought this to hear some inside details on one of my favorite NBA players of all time (I remember in 1974 going out to buy "Pro-Keds" sneakers for my season because that's what Bob Love wore)and came away stunned at what Love went through before re-claiming his life. I was vaguely aware that he'd had hard times post-retirement, but not at this level and this account, quite frankly, makes me admire him more. In brutally "straight-forward" writing he details all the problems that beset him and how his inner-strength and formidable character allowed him to keep his sanity and, ultimately, allowed him to get a semblance of dignity back. You won't get too much basketball detail here (his career takes on surprisingly few pages), but I think that this is Love's intent. This is the success story of a man resurrecting his life from the depths, some of which he helped make (failure to face his stuttering problem) and speaks to a higher level than basketball. My heart truly goes out to him and I'm very glad to hear that he's now doing well. An inspiring read!

I purchased a copy of this book after hearing Mr. Love speak to a crowd of over 300 people. I was engrossed in the book from the start and completed the read on my flight home. It is a definite must read for any athlete or person who enjoys sports and believes that life is more than just a game. It provides a human look at the sports world that is so often overlooked, candy-coated and glorified. The poignancy of this book is driven home when you are priviledged to hear Mr. Love speak, see his conquest over his disability and feel the passion he has for youths.

The book was a slow read in the beginning. I feel to much writing was spent on his early childhood and tended to be a bit boring. The sequence of events during that time didn't flow well, seemed as though you were going back and forth.

The middle section, the period of college & pro ball was good reading. I don't like sports but found this section a fast read. My mother is a great sports fan, so many of the names he mentioned I knew. There was very interesting detail in this section. The sequence of events flowed very well.

The last section,was also a slow read. It was a bit boring. Didn't measure up to the mid-section. The statement he made in next to last sentence of the book is questionable. He has quite a few victim statements, example, beatings from his stepfather, teasing about his stuttering, negative relations from his second ex-wife and "Government worker" girlfriend(?). How can he not understand why, his girlfriend blew-up? What is behind the scene that he is not mentioning.

Also, his seventh son Nathaniel was born in 1987 not 1988 as mentioned in the book. What's really interesting is that he mentions all of his kids except his oldest daughter Basha. Why?