NBA Commissioner David Stern selected Timberwolves forward Kevin Love as a reserve for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game to replace injured Rockets center Yao Ming last week after the coaches overlooked him in their voting, which has Love understandably thrilled. In a recent interview, he told ESPN Radio’s Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo Stern’s choice is “huge for me” and he “felt tremendously honored” to appear on the All-Star team.
Further, Love says, the Wolves’ marketing campaign—which featured an advertisement for a cologne called “Numb#rs,” highlighting his incredible statistical achievements—helped his cause. “I think that did well for me,” he said, while adding “it’s my play this season that really turned peoples’ eyes.” Ben Golliver, who covers the Portland Trail Blazers for SB Nation’s Blazersedge blog and edits SB Nation Seattle, wrote more about the “Numb#rs” campaign in this blog post at HoopsHype.
Love leads the league in rebounding at 15.6 per game, and also tallied the league’s first 30-point, 30-rebound outing since 1982, when Moses Malone scored 38 points and grabbed 32 rebounds against the Seattle SuperSonics. Love is Minnesota’s first All-Star since Kevin Garnett in the 2006/07 season.