After a successful run with the Chicago Bulls for 9 years and 2 more in the league, legendary player Butterbean suddenly found himself in a tough position. An unfortunate incident left him with no money and an unsuccessful marriage. He had to build his career back again bit by bit. Because of his stuttering problem, the basketball legend, who once had a dominant performance, began to do menial work. Known for his capability to power dunk, he had to find his way through this new job. And as his life had it planned, Love once again earned a job in the sports field that he had always wanted.

Bob Love’s name won’t be found in the list of NBA players who are millionaires and billionaires and boast of impactful companies. But his struggles to gain his previous glory back and a decent net worth of $4 million deserve appreciation.

Bob Love’s NBA earnings

Love played alongside elites in the league such as Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and more who received the highest salaries. After Chamberlain received a $100,000 salary for the first time in the 1965–66 season, Russell became the second player to achieve this feat. Moses Malone and Bill Walton were the first two players to cross the $1 million mark, but that wasn’t until the 1979–80 season. 

Comparatively, Love’s last and highest NBA salary was $105,000. While information on the basketball legend’s salary for a particular team isn’t available, we can say that it was nowhere near half a million, even though he was one of the best players.

Throughout his career, he likely made somewhere between $1 and $2 million while playing for three teams during his 11-year career. After failing to make it to the Royals in 1965, he played in the EBL for the next two seasons. This was before he landed a spot on the Royals for two seasons.

While he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks, he asked to be traded to the Bulls. The 3x NBA All-Star earned several accolades during his time, leading the team in scoring for 7 years. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged a career-high 25.8 points per game during the 1971-72 season.

Most of his net worth was likely boosted by the salary he received from the Chicago Bulls. But tragedy struck when he sustained a back injury and was traded to the Seattle Supersonics, only to be later cut from the season. He lost quite a bit of money after his first marriage ended with Betty Smith, with whom he had 7 children. To support himself, he began working as a dishwasher and busboy.

Bob Love’s post-NBA career

He applied for a job at a restaurant in a Nordstrom department store in Seattle. He earned $4.45 an hour for his work. While it was a hundred times less than what he used to earn in the league, he never gave up and worked hard. “I decided that if I was going to be a dishwasher or busboy, I’d be the best one there was,” the late legend once said.

And it all paid off. His dedication to his job caught the eye of the owner, John Nordstrom, who was planning to offer a more important position to Love. However, for that to happen, the basketball legend needed to improve his speech and he needed money for that. Nordstrom, who wanted to help, offered to pay for his speech therapy. The speech therapy session he took later was a game-changer for him. After one year of hard work, he was able to give proper speeches. In fact, it presented other job opportunities for Love.

When he gave his first speech at the high school sports banquet in Rockford for the first time, he said, “I had always been fascinated by speakers like Martin Luther King and John Kennedy, and dreamed of holding people’s attention the way they did. And now I was making my first speech in front of an audience. There were 800 people there, and I saw all eyeballs and heads. I was really nervous. But I went ahead and told my true story.”

He also worked as a corporate spokesperson for Nordstrom, earning a decent amount. Additionally, he worked as a health/sanitation manager for the company’s 70+ national restaurant chain. Later, he joined the Chicago Bulls as their Director of Community Affairs. “I just know that Bob Love is an incredible human being,” Chicago Bulls’ owner, Jerry Reinsdorf said. He was the one who brought Love back to the Bulls.

He earned somewhere between $3-$4 million from his work at Nordstrom. He had nearly $4 million when the basketball legend passed away after struggling with cancer for a long time. After impressing many with his perseverance and hard work, he suggested the same for the rest. He rose from all the difficult circumstances to make it in life and his career. On November 18, he left us leaving a stellar story behind for us to cheer.