Kevin Love with David Stern at the NBA Draft Thursday. photo: Bill Feinberg

You don’t need to come to www.bouncemag.com to find out that Kevin Love was the Memphis Grizzlies’ lottery pick, however I just want to send a personal shout-out to the brother and congratulate him on the step. First met dude at the inaugural Elite 24 HS All-American Classic 2006 at Rucker Park. In ‘07, he was the only graduated senior from that debut game to come back to watch the 2nd installment. I thought that was cool.

In ‘08, I met Bill Feinberg who was working on the theatrical release of the Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot documentary. He is a friend of Love’s famalams, and told me that Kevin, who I nicknamed “Kevlar” a.k.a. “Bulletproof” at E24, was diggin’ my Nike AF1 X Kool Bob Love jump-offs, especially cuz they bore his last name on the heel which I designed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bless him with a pair (the Swoosh only made them up to size 14), but I appreciated the virtual high-five.

So Kev, if you read this, you cool peoples in my book, bro. Good luck in your career, work hard, have fun, and hopefully you get a signature shoe down the road with kevlar reinforcements on the toe! (anyone remember the mid-’90s Nike tennis shoe that featured the same?)