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NBA: 50 greatest players who aren’t in the Basketball Hall of Fame

By Maxwell Ogden

AUBURN HILLS, UNITED STATES: Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Piston celebrates with the fans after the Pistons defeated the Lakers 100-87 to win the 2004 NBA championship final, in Auburn Hills, MI, 15 June 2004. The Pistons won the best-of-seven NBA championship series 5-1 and Billups was the series MVP. AFP PHOTO / Robyn BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
AUBURN HILLS, UNITED STATES: Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Piston celebrates with the fans after the Pistons defeated the Lakers 100-87 to win the 2004 NBA championship final, in Auburn Hills, MI, 15 June 2004. The Pistons won the best-of-seven NBA championship series 5-1 and Billups was the series MVP. AFP PHOTO / Robyn BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Copyright 1970 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) /

50 greatest players who aren’t in the Basketball Hall of Fame: 21. Bob Love

Long before Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to the only championships and NBA Finals appearances in franchise history, Bob Love was keeping the franchise afloat. He began his NBA career with the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks, but it was an eight-year run with the Bulls that elevated the organization.

Love is one of the most respected players of his time, as well as an individual whom some would argue should find his way onto a Chicago Bulls Mount Rushmore.

Love made three All-Star Game appearances with the Bulls, as well as two on the All-NBA Second Team and three on the All-Defensive Second Team. A 6’8” forward with skill and athleticism, Love averaged 22.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game during his seven full seasons in Chicago.

To date, he ranks third in Bulls history with 12,623 points. Only Jordan and Scottie Pippen managed to score more while wearing a Bulls uniform.

Love didn’t just compile statistics with the Bulls; he also found a way to play winning basketball. The Bulls made six consecutive postseason appearances with Love leading the charge, including back-to-back Conference Finals appearances during the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons.

Love and the Bulls came within one game of reaching the 1975 NBA Finals, in fact, only falling to all-time great Rick Barry and the eventual champion Golden State Warriors in Game 7.

The Bulls were a talented team featuring a number of productive players such as Jerry Sloan, Norm Van Lier, and Chet Walker. It was Love, however, who was the go-to scorer.

He tried in that role, as evidenced by his career-defining performance against the Kansas City-Omaha Kings in the 1975 NBA Playoffs. Love averaged 30.0 points and 8.7 rebounds on 49.0 percent shooting from the field to send Chicago to the Conference Finals.

Before there was Jordan, there was Love—a two-way wing who could score and defend at borderline elite levels.