Joseph "Joe" Lacob is a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers^[1] and the majority owner of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[2]

Early life[link]

Lacob grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts. His father worked at a paper products company, his mother at a local supermarket. Lacob became a fan of the Boston Celtics. When Lacob was 14, the company that employed his father was sold, firing everyone except his dad, and Lacob's family relocated to Anaheim, California. Lacob subsequently became a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.^[3][4]

Lacob received a Bachelor's in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), a Master's in Public Health (epidemiology) from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business ^[5] "I was a very poor kid," Lacob said. "Had nothing. I paid every dime of my education through college. Every single dime. I was the first person to graduate from college in the history of my family. Ever. I came from nothing."^[3]

Professional career[link]

Lacob has been a partner at Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital investment firm, since 1987.^[3] He has led investments in companies in life sciences, medical technologies, Internet and energy. He has fronted investments in AutoTrader.com, Invisalign and NuVasive.^[3] Prior to joining Kleiner Perkins Mr. Lacob was an executive with Cetus Corporation (now Chiron), FHP International, a health maintenance organization, and the management consulting firm of Booz, Allen & Hamilton. ^[6] In interviews he has mentioned his epidemiology degree as giving him a background in statistics that has also related to an interest in statistics in sports. ^[7]

Lacob was a primary investor in the American Basketball League, a professional women's basketball league that eventually folded against its rival, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).^[3] In January, 2006, Lacob became a part owner of the Celtics, where he became a co-investor with H. Irving Grousbeck, an entrepreneur and professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. ^[8] On July 15, 2010, Lacob and a group of investors agreed to buy the Warriors from Chris Cohan for $450 million which will require him to sell his minority interest in the Celtics. ^[9] There were a dozen other bidders for the Warriors, including Oracle chief executive officer Larry Ellison, 24-Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov and Texas billionaire financier David Bonderman.^[10] Lacob was a Warriors season-ticket-holder for about a decade.^[3] Lacob has extensive experience with the operations of an NBA team as a part owner of the Boston Celtics and he also has mentioned his friendships with Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics and Jeff Moorad of the San Diego Padres who have both proven that winning records are not solely related to the size of the team payroll.^[11] While the sale of the Warriors was pending league approval, Lacob was involved with personnel decision with Cohan's blessing. He approved the acquisitions of David Lee and undrafted rookie guard Jeremy Lin, a hometown favorite. He also fired coach Don Nelson and replaced him with assistant Keith Smart. The sale was unanimously approved by the NBA league's board of governors on November 12, 2010. Lacob and Peter Guber are the chief owners, while Lacob will handle the day-to-day operations.^[10][12]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Kawakami, Tim (August 17, 2010). "Lacob interview, Part 3: On Jeremy Lin, Ellison, Larry Riley, bold moves and poker". San Jose Mercury News. http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2010/08/17/lacob-interview-part-3-on-jeremy-lin-ellison-larry-riley-bold-moves-and-poker/. 
• Kawakami-Lacob interview, part 2
• Kawakami-Lacob Interview part 1

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012)

Howard Peter Guber (born March 1, 1942^{[1]:p. 61} in Boston, Massachusetts^{[1]:p. 61}) is an American film producer and executive and Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment. Films he personally produced or executive produced include Rain Man, Batman, The Color Purple, Midnight Express, Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, The Witches of Eastwick, Missing and Flashdance. Guber's films have earned over $3 billion worldwide and 50 Academy Award nominations.^[2] Guber is also a minority owner of two professional sports teams: the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball.

Early life[link]

Peter Guber's parents Sam Guber and Ruth Anshen, of Jewish descent, married in 1929.^[1]:p.62 Peter's father owned a junk business in Somerville, Massachusetts.^[1]:p.62 As a child, Guber was noted for his intelligence, outgoing nature, high energy, aggressiveness, and extreme competitiveness.^[1]:p.61-62 He attended John Ward Elementary School and Newton North High School.^:p.62

Following high school graduation, Guber enrolled in the pre-law curriculum at Syracuse University. He played intramural football and pledged the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity.^[1]:p.62-63 Guber spent his junior year abroad at Syracuse's Florence, Italy campus. At Syracuse he met his future wife, Lynda Gellis, the daughter of a kosher meat magnate and the "self-styled queen" of her sorority.^[1]:p.64

With the financial support of his wealthy new father-in-law, Guber enrolled at New York University for his J.D. and LL.M. law degrees, studying for his MBA at night.^[1]:p.64 (Though he later claimed otherwise on resumes, he would never finish the last degree.^[1]:p.80 As he neared graduation in 1968, Guber, tired of the bone-chilling winters in his native Northeast, accepted a position with Columbia Pictures as an assistant and management trainee.^[1]:p.64-65

Career[link]

Columbia Pictures[link]

Guber provoked both "contempt and grudging admiration" when he worked as executive Jerry Tokofsky's assistant.^[1]:p.68 Guber, an early proponent of computerization and entertainment technologies, began computerizing files on working actors and made available tape-recorded summaries of scripts for other executives to listen to while driving to work.^[1]:p.68-69 A year after arriving at Columbia, Guber, having witnessed a demonstration of an early video cassette machine, published "The New Ballgame/The Cartridge Revolution," a "prescient" analysis of the changes to be wrought by home video technology, in the journal Cinema.^[1]:p.69-70

Guber was transferred to the business affairs division after Tokofsky was fired, a position from which he watched his next two supervisors also be fired.^[1]:p.71 Guber paid to fly himself to Columbia's New York City office and successfully argued for his promotion to vice-president of creative affairs.^[1]:p.71-72 Shortly thereafter Guber was named head of American production, an advancement that, due to Columbia's power structure, had little authority.^[1]:p.73 In August 1973 he was promoted to vice-president of worldwide production. Partly because of a tendency to commit funds and project to multiple filmmakers and actors simultaneously, Guber was fired by Columbia president of production David Begelman in 1975, a fact he at first denied and then confessed to friends.^{[1]:p.79-80,82} Upon leaving, Guber was given the "golden parachute" of a three year production deal with the studio. During his time at Columbia the studio released, among other films, Shampoo, Taxi Driver, Tommy, The Way We Were and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Independent producer[link]

Guber launched his career as an independent film producer with The Deep, which became the second highest-grossing film of the year.^[1]:p.86 (Though he hadn't liked the Peter Benchley book upon which the film was based, Guber later commented that the wet T-shirt clinging to curvaceous star Jacqueline Bisset "made me a rich man."^[1]:p.83,85) Guber also bought the rights and served as executive producer for Midnight Express. Produced by Alan Marshall and David Puttnam, the film earned seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. The National Association of Theater Owners named Guber Producer of the Year.

Casablanca Record and Filmworks[link]

In 1976 Guber merged his company Filmworks with Casablanca Records, headed by Neil Bogart, to formed Casablanca Record and Filmworks, Inc. Guber became Chairman while Bogart remained President of the combined company. Their record operation included Kiss, Donna Summer, Captain and Tennille, The Village People, and George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic. It also released soundtracks such as Midnight Express, Endless Love, and Flashdance. During this period, Guber also produced several television shows and series, including Television and the Presidency (1984) with Theodore H. White, the 1985 documentary series Oceanquest for NBC, and the 1980 special Mysteries of the Sea for ABC.

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and the Guber-Peters Company[link]

After Bogart was forced out following the takeover of Casablanca by PolyGram in 1979, Guber formed PolyGram's motion picture and television division where he was Chairman of the Board and CEO. He sold his interest in PolyGram in 1983 and formed and served as co-owner of the Guber-Peters Company (GPC) along with producer Jon Peters.

Films on which Guber served as producer or executive producer have earned more than $3 billion in worldwide revenue and more than 50 Academy Award nominations, including four Best Picture nominations. Guber's producing credits include Rain Man, Batman, Gorillas in the Mist, The Color Purple, Innerspace, The Witches of Eastwick, Flashdance, Missing, Tango & Cash and An American Werewolf in London.

The extent to which Peters was involved in the making of these films has been a matter of disagreement, as has the quality of his contributions. Steven Spielberg, director of The Color Purple, had a clause written into his contract barring Guber from ever coming to the set.^[1]:p.127 Spielberg, who was later attached to Rain Man for several months as its director, has said that he "never had a single meeting" with Guber on either project.^[1]:p.162 Additionally, Guber and Peters became known for "leaving a trail of traumatized producers and directors in their wake."^[1]:p.136 With The Witches of Eastwick Guber was accused by producer Rob Cohen, who had originally approached Guber with the book, of having "bought the book out from under me" after negotiations had begun.^[1]:p.136-7 Subsequently, Cohen says, Guber offered him a "take it or leave it" deal to line produce the film at a rate that was one-third of Guber's own salary.^[1]:p.137 Guber, "having grabbed the material and secured the talent, disappeared" from what would become a very troubled shoot.^[1]:p.137 Michael Apted, director of Gorillas in the Mist, said that Guber "doesn't come to you with the greatest reputation," leading a filmmaker to think that Guber-Peters is "on the cusp of Hollywood sleaze there."^[1]:p.134

Sony Pictures[link]

In 1988, GPC became a public company when they merged with game show production company Barris Industries and on September 7, 1989, Barris Industries was renamed Guber-Peters Entertainment Company.^[3] On September 29, 1989, GPEC was acquired by Sony Corporation and Guber became Chairman of the Board and CEO of Columbia Pictures Entertainment (now Sony Pictures Entertainment). The sale was completed on November 9, 1989 a day after Sony acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment. During Guber's tenure at SPE, the company produced and distributed many prime time, half-hour comedy television series, with shows including Married with Children, Designing Women, and Seinfeld (all launched prior to Guber's arrival), and Mad About You and The Nanny.

During Guber's tenure as chairman and CEO, SPE's Motion Picture Group achieved, over four years, an industry-best domestic box office market share, which averaged seventeen percent. During the same period, Sony Pictures led all competitors with 120 Academy Award nominations, the highest four-year total ever for a single company. However, rampant spending by Guber and Peters led to their time at Sony to be viewed as a "disastrous tenure [that] Sony Pictures made them rich while it yielded bad, bloated movies and cost the company a fortune."^[4] Sony executive Mickey Schulhof asked Guber to resign in September 1994.^[1]:p.439

Mandalay Entertainment[link]

After leaving Sony, Guber formed Mandalay Entertainment, a multimedia entertainment company with interests in motion pictures, television, sports entertainment and new media.

Golden State Warriors[link]

On July 15, 2010, Chris Cohan, previous owner of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, reached an agreement to sell the franchise for a record $450 million to Boston Celtics minority partner Joe Lacob and Guber.^[5]

Los Angeles Dodgers[link]

On March 27, 2012, Guber became a minority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers through his affiliation with Guggenheim Baseball Management LLC.^[6]

Films produced[link]

• The Deep (1977): producer
• Midnight Express (1978): executive producer
• An American Werewolf in London (1981): executive producer
• Missing (1982): executive producer
• Six Weeks (1982): producer
• Flashdance (1983): executive producer
• The Color Purple (1985): executive producer
• Clue (1985): executive producer
• Youngblood (1986): executive producer
• The Witches of Eastwick (1987): producer
• Innerspace (1987): executive producer
• Who's That Girl (1987): executive producer
• Rain Man (1988): executive producer
• Gorillas in the Mist (1988): executive producer
• Caddyshack II (1988): producer
• Tango & Cash (1989): producer
• Batman (1989): producer
• The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990): executive producer
• Batman Returns (1992): executive producer
• This Boy's Life (1993): executive producer
• With Honors (1994): executive producer
• Sleepy Hollow (1999): producer
• The Score (2001): producer
• Enemy at the Gates (2001): producer
• Serving Sara (2002): producer
• Alex and Emma (2003): executive producer
• Beyond Borders (2003): producer
• Into the Blue (2005): executive producer
• The Jacket (2005): producer
• A Thousand Roads (2005): executive producer
• Montana Sky (made for television, 2007): executive producer
• Carolina Moon (made for television, 2007): executive producer
• Blue Smoke (made for television, 2007): executive producer
• Angels Fall (made for television, 2007): executive producer
• Tribute (made for television, 2009): executive producer
• High Noon (made for television, 2009): executive producer
• Midnight Bayou (made for television, 2009): executive producer
• Northern Lights (made for television, 2009): executive producer

Books[link]

• Guber, Peter (1977). Inside The Deep. Bantam. ISBN 978-0-553-11136-1. 
• Guber, Peter; Bart, Peter (2003). Shoot Out. Perigee Trade. ISBN 978-0-399-52888-0. 

Notes[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Henry Abbott (2010-06-15). "Five notes on the incoming Warriors owners". ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/blog/TrueHoop/post/_/id/18206/five-notes-on-the-new-warriors-owners. Retrieved 2010-06-15. }

External links[link]

• Official website
• Peter Guber at the Internet Movie Database

Kevin Love

Love with the Timberwolves
No. 42 – Minnesota Timberwolves
Power Forward / Center
Personal information
Born	(1988-09-07) September 7, 1988 (age 23) Santa Monica, California
Nationality	American
High school	Lake Oswego High School
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	260 lb (118 kg)
Career information
College	UCLA (2007–2008)
NBA Draft	2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Memphis Grizzlies
Pro career	2008–present
Career history
2008–present	Minnesota Timberwolves
Career highlights and awards
2× NBA All-Star (2011–2012) All-NBA Second Team (2012) Three-Point Shootout Champion (2012) NBA Most Improved Player (2011) NBA rebounding champion (2011) NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2009) Pac-10 Player of the Year (2008) Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (2008) Naismith Prep Player of the Year (2007)

Kevin Wesley Love (born September 7, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The two-time All-Star is one of the top rebounders in the NBA, and he holds the longest streak for consecutive games recording double figures in points and rebounds since the merger between the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the NBA. The Associated Press called Love the new face of the Timberwolves franchise.^[1] He is also known for his outlet passing, which led to comparisons to Wes Unseld.^[2][3]

A top ranked prospect out of Lake Oswego High School in Oregon, Love played one season of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and led the team to a Final Four appearance in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Love was named the Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and consensus First Team All-American following the season. Love chose not to complete his three remaining years of college eligibility and entered the 2008 NBA Draft.^[4] He was taken fifth overall by the Memphis Grizzlies, and was traded to the Timberwolves on draft night for the third overall selection, O. J. Mayo, in an eight-player deal.^[5] Love was a member of the gold medal-winning United States men's national basketball team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Early years[link]

Kevin Love was born in Santa Monica, California, the second of three children of Karen and former NBA forward Stan Love. A year later, the Love family moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon.^[6] Growing up, Stan passed on his interest in basketball by showing his son tapes of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry. In addition, Love studied tapes of all-time great passing centers in Wes Unseld and Bill Walton, along with instructional tapes from Hall of Famers such as Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Charles Barkley, and Michael Jordan. For hand and wrist strength, Stan would push Love to do fingertip push-ups as well as other upper body exercises.^[7]

High school career[link]

Love had a successful high school career with the Lake Oswego Lakers. In his sophomore year, Love averaged 25.3 ppg, 15.4 rpg, 3.7 apg, and led the Lakers to the 2005 Oregon state high school basketball championship game, where they lost to Jesuit High School 57–53.^[8][9] That summer, Love was the center of controversy when Nike removed him from its Portland Elite Legends AAU team because he had chosen to participate in the Reebok ABCD Camp against other top recruits.^[10][11] Love went on to play for the Southern California All-Stars, where the team compiled an unprecedented 46–0 record as he garnered three MVP awards.^[8]

In 2006, Love averaged 28.0 ppg, 16.1 rpg, and dished out 3.5 apg as the Lakers returned to the Oregon state championship game. With Love's 24 points and 9 rebounds, the Lakers defeated South Medford and fellow star recruit Kyle Singler, 59–57.^[9] In Love's final year at Lake Oswego, he put up 33.9 ppg, 17.0 rpg, and 4.0 apg as the team finished 26–2.^[8][12] Earlier that year, in a game against Rex Putnam High School, Love shattered the backboard on a breakaway dunk.^[13] Love and Singler met again for the 2007 championship, this time however, Singler and South Medford defeated Lake Oswego 58–54, overcoming Love's 37 points and 15 rebounds.^[8][14] After the season, Love was named the 2007 Men's Basketball Gatorade National Player of the Year.

Love finished his high school career as the all-time leading scorer in Oregon boys' basketball history with 2,628 points. The previous record had stood for 50 years.^[8] The Lakers went 92–21 in four seasons with Love, and made three straight state championship games, winning once.^[8]

College career[link]

Love during his season at UCLA.

Love was ranked as one of the top players in the nation from the class of 2007.^[15][16] In July 2006, Love verbally committed to play college basketball for coach Ben Howland at UCLA.^[17] He had also considered playing for the University of North Carolina.^[11][18][19] Love, who had worn number 42 for a majority of his basketball career, received permission from Walt Hazzard to wear the same number with UCLA, even though the school had retired the number for Hazzard in 1996.^[20] After arriving at UCLA, Love regularly sought out retired Bruins legends Bill Walton and John Wooden for advice.^[21]

Love's decision to play for the Bruins brought animosity from fans of the University of Oregon, his father's alma mater, where it was expected he would play. Prior to a game at Oregon, Ducks fans obtained Love's cell phone number and left obscene messages as well as death threats; the fans also subjected Love's family to obscenities and threw garbage at them during the game. This event, along with similar incidents directed at other players, has prompted a discussion of whether abuse by college basketball fans is becoming too extreme.^[22][23] Love finished the game with 26 points and 18 rebounds in a 80–75 win.^[24]

In the 2008 Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, the Bruins defeated the USC Trojans, featuring O. J. Mayo, in the semi-finals. Both Mayo and Love were nominated to the All Pac-10 tournament team. Later, Love guided UCLA to the regular season Pac-10 conference championship, the conference tournament championship, and a #1 seed in the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Love helped the Bruins to the Final Four of the tournament, where they lost to the Memphis Tigers. At the end of the 2007–08 regular season, Love was named consensus first-team All-American, Pac-10 Player of the Year, All-Pac-10, and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. He led the Bruins with 17.5 ppg, 10.6 rpg, and 23 double-doubles.^[25]

NBA career[link]

2008 NBA Draft[link]

In a press conference on April 17, 2008, Love announced his intention to leave UCLA to enter the 2008 NBA Draft.^[4] He was taken fifth overall by the Memphis Grizzlies, right after his teammate at UCLA, Russell Westbrook. Following the draft, Love was traded along with Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins to the Minnesota Timberwolves, with the third overall pick O. J. Mayo, Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric, and Greg Buckner going to the Grizzlies.^[5][26]

Rookie season[link]

Love went on to play in the 2008 NBA Summer League and led all players in rebounding.^[27] In his NBA debut on October 29, Love came off the bench to contribute 12 points and nine rebounds in a 98–96 win over the Sacramento Kings.^[28] The Timberwolves struggled early on losing 15 of their first 19 games, prompting the dismissal of head coach Randy Wittman.^[29] Timberwolves general manager Kevin McHale, a Hall of Famer who acquired Love in the trade, took over as head coach and they developed a close relationship.^[30][31][32] Under McHale, the Timberwolves improved their play in January by going 10–4, with Love averaging a double-double.^[33] Love was not selected to the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge, to the surprise of his teammates and coaches.^[34][35] After team's leading scorer Al Jefferson was sidelined for the rest of the season with a torn ACL in February,^[36] Love's minutes increased, and he was named NBA Rookie of the Month for March.^[37]

Love finished the season ninth in the league in rebounding, first among rookies, and ranked third in total offensive rebounds. Love also led all first-years with 29 double-doubles, the most by a Timberwolves rookie in franchise history. He also ranked first in the league in offensive rebound percentage, becoming the first rookie to lead the league since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984–85. Love was also second in the NBA in total rebound percentage. He was named to the 2009 NBA All-Rookie Second Team and finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting.^[38]

2009–10 season[link]

In the off-season, Love was invited to participate in the USA National Team mini-camp that was conducted from July 22–25 in Las Vegas.^[39][40] Love also generated attention from his Twitter account when he broke the story that Kevin McHale wasn't returning to coach the Timberwolves for the 2009–2010 season.^[41]

Love began the season on the injured list when in a pre-season game on October 16, 2009 against the Chicago Bulls, he broke the fourth metacarpal in his left hand by banging it against the elbow of teammate Oleksiy Pecherov.^[42] Following surgery, Love missed the first 18 games of the season. He returned against the New Orleans Hornets on December 4, 2009, and made immediate impact for the Timberwolves, who were struggling out of the gate with a 2–16 record.^[43][44]

Kevin Love was selected to play in NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge.^[45][46] He finished the season ranked as the NBA's best rebounder per 48 minutes (18.4), besting Dwight Howard (18.3) and Marcus Camby (18.1).^[47]

2010–11 season[link]

The Timberwolves' trade of Jefferson before the 2010–11 NBA season was expected to result in more playing time for Love. However, he averaged 28 minutes through the first nine games, exceeding 30 minutes only twice. Chris Mannix of SI.com wrote that many speculated there was a rift between coach Kurt Rambis and Love.^[47] In a home game against the New York Knicks on November 12, 2010, Love became the 19th player to record a "30–30" game, when he recorded 31 points along with a career-high 31 rebounds.^[48] His 31 rebounds set a Timberwolves franchise record and were also the most by a player in an NBA game since Charles Barkley recorded 33 rebounds in a game in 1996.^[49] Love became the first player to record a 30–30 game since Moses Malone in 1982.^[50] Love scored a career-high 43 points and had 17 rebounds on December 18 in a 115–113 loss to the Denver Nuggets.^[51] On February 4, 2011, Love was selected by Commissioner David Stern to his first NBA All-Star Game as replacement for the injured Yao Ming. The day before, Love was not selected as an All-Star as a reserve although averaging 21.4 points, a league-best 15.5 rebounds, shooting 43.9 percent from 3-point range, and having 34 straight double-doubles for the 11–37 Timberwolves.^[52][53][54] On February 8, Love set a team record (previously held by Kevin Garnett) with his 38th consecutive double-double after scoring 20 points and recording 14 rebounds in the Timberwolves' 112–108 win over the Houston Rockets.^[55] He scored 37 points and had 23 rebounds on February 27 in a 126–123 win over the Golden State Warriors. It was his fourth 30-point, 20-rebound game of the season, and Love went 18 for 23 from the free throw line to tie Minnesota's team records for made and attempted free throws.^[56] On March 13, Love's consecutive double-double streak ended at 53 games in a loss to the Golden State Warriors.^[57] It was the longest streak since the ABA–NBA merger in 1976,^[58] surpassing Malone's 51-game streak from 1979 to 1980.^[59][60] Love was two short of Elvin Hayes's streak of 55 consecutive double-double set in the 1973–74 season.^[57] According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Wilt Chamberlain holds the record with 227 consecutive double-doubles from 1964 to 1967. The NBA does not recognize the double-double as an official statistic.^[61][62] Love suffered a strained left groin on March 20 against Sacramento.^[63] He missed the final six games and nine of the last 11 games of the season due to the injury.^[64][65]

Love led the NBA in rebounding averaging 15.2 per game.^[64] He won the NBA Most Improved Player Award after increasing his points per game by 44 percent and his rebounds per game by 38 percent over his previous season. Love established career highs in rebounding, scoring (20.2), assists (2.5), double-doubles (64), field goal percentage (.470), free throw shooting (.850), 3-point shooting (.417) and minutes played (35.8). He became the first player to average at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in a season since Malone in the 1982–83 season.^[66] The Associated Press wrote that he emerged as the new face of the franchise since Garnett was traded from the Timberwolves to the Boston Celtics in 2007.^[1] In 2010–11, Love's No. 42 was the Wolves' top-selling jersey since Kevin Garnett was in his prime.^[67]