How Love puts up numbers worthy of Kareem, Wilt and Elgin

DAL 4, MIN 2 10:04 McClanaghan works with dozens of NBA players. He says he recommends yoga to each of them, but only Love has embraced it; he maintains his

Alan Shipnuck | Dec 11, 2013

How Love puts up numbers worthy of Kareem, Wilt and Elgin /

Timberwolves power forward Kevin Love is the NBA's leading rebounder and a top-10 scorer. — Timberwolves power forward Kevin Love is the NBA's leading rebounder and a top-10 scorer :: Greg Nelson/SI

DAL 4, MIN 2 10:04

Dirk Nowitzki says Kevin Love (pictured) "is way beyond where I was when I was 25." :: David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

McClanaghan works with dozens of NBA players. He says he recommends yoga to each of them, but only Love has embraced it; he maintains his practice in-season. "It's helped make him more flexible and helped his body control and balance and given him more discipline," says McClanaghan. "It shows you how badly Kevin wants that extra edge."

Kevin Love, a versatile scorer, has been working to perfect the difficult step-back three-pointer. — Kevin Love, a versatile scorer, has been working to perfect the difficult step-back three-pointer :: Greg Nelson/SI

"In this league you're going to get your shot blocked, it's just part of the deal," Love says. "You can pout about it or you can keep playing. I choose to keep playing."

The Timberwolves have a solid starting lineup of (from left) Nikola Pekovic, Kevin Martin, Ricky Rubio, Corey Brewer and Kevin Love. — The Timberwolves have a solid starting lineup of (from left) Nikola Pekovic, Kevin Martin, Ricky Rubio, Corey Brewer and Kevin Love :: David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

After the Mavs miss a layup, Martin can't connect on a floater in the lane. With his left arm Love is pushing 6' 6" Jae Crowder nearly out-of-bounds, but with his right hand Love delicately tips the ball off the backboard. Brewer corrals the rebound, and the T-Wolves reset. Love gets the ball back in the left block with Marion now guarding him. He turns to face him, takes two dribbles toward the baseline and then, with another pump-fake, gets Marion to leave his feet. As Marion flies by, Peter Pan-style, Love buries a one-footed fallaway from 15 feet. ("Yeah, I stole that one-footed move from Dirk.") In one sequence his unique skill set has been on display: savage strength, soft hands, textbook footwork, silky shooting touch, bulletproof confidence. The game, a 116-108 Minnesota win, is now essentially over.

Kevin Love can become a free agent after the 2014-15 season. — Kevin Love can become a free agent after the 2014-15 season :: Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images

Or, really, the next play. "One thing Flip has talked to me a lot about is how to fail quickly," Love says. "It's O.K. to make a mistake as long as you leave it behind." This is the essence of Love's greatness: a relentless commitment to making the right play. In the grand sweep of his game against Dallas, Love enjoyed no dunks, no killer crossovers, no trash talk, nothing that meets our definition of a highlight, warped as it is by braying SportsCenter hosts and YouTube mixtapes. He just did the little things over and over, until they added up to something big.

Published Dec 11, 2013

ALAN SHIPNUCK

Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated Alan Shipnuck wrote his first cover story for Sports Illustrated as a 21-year-old intern in 1994. Like his cover subject, Ken Griffey Jr., Shipnuck matured into one of the best of his profession. When he was hired in 1996, he became the youngest staff writer staff writer in SI's history. Now a senior writer at the magazine, he writes regularly on golf and has been honored multiple times by the Golf Writers Association of America. In 2008 he became the first writer to finish first in the same year in both the feature and news writing categories in the Golf Writers Association of America annual writing contest. Though he specializes in golf for SI and Golf.com, Shipnuck has written on a variety of topics, including the 2007 (Brett Favre) and 2008 Sportsman of the Year (Michael Phelps). He currently writes a popular weekly column, Heroes and Zeroes, for Golf.com. His first book, Bud, Sweat & Tees, was published in 2001 and followed misadventures of unknown PGA Tour rookie Rich Beem and his caddie, Steve Duplantis. The book became a best seller after Beem's stunning victory at the 2002 PGA Championship. He is also the author ofThe Battle for Augusta National: Hootie, Martha, and the Masters of the Universe, which was published to excellent reviews in 2004; Publishers Weekly said Shipnuck "superbly recounts all of the debacle's hilarious, sad, serious and absurd details." His most recent book is The Swinger, a raucous novel written with fellow senior writer Michael Bamberger and released in July 2011. Shipnuck has also been a contributor to Artworks Magazine, Travel & Leisure Golf, Golf & Travel and Golf for Women and has appeared on CNN, NBC'sTODAYand ESPN's SportsCentury series, in addition to numerous other television and radio shows. A 1996 graduate of UCLA, Shipnuck lives in Carmel, Calif., with his family.