Documentary profiles Bob Love's life and disability
December 9, 2007 Regardless of the obstacles, he has succeeded.
Love retired from basketball in 1976. From that point, his life off the court went downhill. He struggled for many years until he dealt with his disability. Now, a new documentary called Find Yourself a Dream follows his life and how he coped with his disability.
Even though, Bob Love was considered to be one of the top basketball player during his time, he says was never given a fair shot.
"Maybe 85, 90 percent of the time I'm a leading scorer, the leading rebounder, the leading assist guy, but I never got an interviews. I never had a speaking engagement. I got no endorsements. I got nothing because I couldn't talk to people," the former basketball player said.
Back injuries forced Love to retire from basketball, and his severe stuttering prevented him from finding a job. After seven years of searching, he eventually landed a job bussing tables and washing dishes at Nordstorm.
Later, Love realized he need to get help for his stuttering disability.
"I was 47 years old before I went to therapy. So, I was kind of, it was really, really hard for me," said Love.
And Bob Love's dreams started to come true. Then, they kept getting bigger, especially after meeting writer and director Jim White at a film screening.
"I didn't know about the stuttering aspect of the story. I just knew he was a former Bulls player. When I heard the whole story, I thought it would make a great documentary," said Jim White.
White teamed up with Steve Kennedy and Jay Rizzo from Americas Film Fund to produce Find Yourself a Dream- The Bob Love Story.
"It's a story that should have been told a long time ago. I don't know why no one else picked up on it, but we're just happy when we had the opportunity to do so," said Steve Kennedy.
"I learned not only from the documentary but from Bob himself that anybody can overcome anything," Jay Rizzo said.
Find Yourself a Dream is being shown to school age children.
" I tell you, I've seen a lot of documentaries, but none so heart-touching as this. I'm speechless. In other words, you know, everybody that sees it says that they love it. And, it's going to be very inspiring to the young people around the country," Love said.
Director Jim White has just finished writing the script for a feature film on Bob Love's life. He hopes it will be completed in a year or two.
For more information on Bob Love and his documentary, go to www.findyourselfadream.com.
