MANKATO, Minn. (AP) -Aside from being tall, Kevin Love doesn't necessarily look like a basketball player.
The 6-foot-9 forward has a frame that is a little on the lumpy side. When he gets moving down the court, he doesn't glide so much as he lumbers, elbows out to his sides and head bobbing.
Outward appearances alone, including his skin color, may lump Love in with players like Adam Keefe, Nick Collison or even teammate Mark Madsen. But the Minnesota Timberwolves' rookie is showing early in his first training camp that he could be so much more.
"Kevin's really underrated right now," Wolves guard Rashad McCants said. "I think they think of him as being undersized and one of those white boys that just has to go in there and bang.
"But Kevin has a very good finesse game where he can step out and handle the ball and shoot the 3. I'm very impressed."
Love may have just turned 20 years old, but he has been fighting the stereotype of the big, slow, white guy for his whole basketball career. He averaged 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds a game in his lone season at UCLA and was acquired by the Wolves in a seven-player, draft-night trade with Memphis that sent USC guard O.J. Mayo to the Grizzlies for Love and Mike Miller.
Local reaction to the trade was resoundingly negative, with Timberwolves fans livid that Kevin McHale would let go of the silky smooth Mayo in the deal. But the Timberwolves see Love as a player more comparable to Wes Unseld - an undersized power forward and one of the best rebounders in league history - than Brian Scalabrine.
"My middle name's Wesley after Wesley Unseld," Love said. "It's just been ingrained in my blood."
Love's father, Stan, played in the NBA for parts of four years in the 1970s after being the No. 9 pick in the 1971 NBA draft.
Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman has already started to see that pedigree, pointing to Kevin Love's basketball instincts that distinguish him from most 20-year-olds.
"What he brings on to the floor, it's hard to teach," Wittman said. "Being at the right spot at the right time, those types of things. He has a knack for those things."
Stan Love didn't just teach his son how to shoot, dribble and rebound. The younger brother of Beach Boys lead singer Mike Love, Stan "did a lot of crazy things in his lifetime," Kevin Love said.
"He was a guy that kind of lived the Beach Boy life with my uncle (Brian Wilson). He took it easy a little bit," Kevin Love said. "He taught me to have work ethic. I've always kind of been a self-starter, but he was always that push in the back for me.
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