Carlyle Love

The Greatest Player You Never Heard Of…

In the world of basketball, there have been many legendary players who have left an indelible mark on the sport. Carlyle Love, though a powerful presence in his day, has been in many ways forgotten by time… save for one: his ultra rare rookie card. So how does a guy who most people have never heard of, end up with a card pricier than MJ’s. Well, as Honus Wagner might tell you, a key ingredient is SCARCITY.

Carlyle Love's journey to basketball legend began in his high school days, in Greensboro North Carolina. Having grown up poor, Love started school late, and by the time his high school career arrived he was already towering over his fellow players, rumored to be a 21 year old senior. He quickly made a name for himself as a dominant force on the court. Love's skills were unparalleled, and he consistently displayed an uncanny ability to score at will. His prowess was reflected in his staggering point totals and remarkable shooting percentages. His senior year of high school he was rumored to have averaged 40 points and 30 rebounds per game.

He led the Greensboro Spirits to the finals, displaying a combination of athleticism, skill, and basketball IQ that left opponents in awe. Love's scoring ability was not limited to high-volume shooting; he shot an exceptional field goal percentage of over 60%, a testament to his efficiency and precision.

By college, Love’s ferocity and passion increased as did his reputation for chaos off and on the court. Indeed it didn’t take long for Love’s fighting spirit to see him suspended for his junior year for vandalism from UNCG (protesting the schools racist policies).

Frustrated by a system he did not appreciate or understand, Love quit college, took three years off on what he called a “political and philosophical search” and returned to basketball, only to find himself the last pick of the worst team in the newly formed American Basketball Association.

The American Basketball Association begins

Saying Love’s rookie season was legendary is as a massive understatement. In fact, the only player to put up greater numbers was Wilt Chamberlain. If ABA stats counted against NBA stats, Love would still edge Wilt out.

Carlyle Love averaged 38.6 points and 28 rebounds per game on his way to becoming the first player in basketball history to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in the same season.

Carlyle Love Songs

In his free time Love also enjoyed playing piano, and was said to be able to cover nearly the whole distance of the keyboard with the spread of his two hands. He self released an instrumental album called “Love Songs” Which contained songs he wrote while recovering from surgery.

After his record setting season, Love’s one year contract was up for negotiation. Love was given a new car as a signing bonus. Considering himself “not trapped by material goods” he opted to donate it to his mother. On his way off the car lot, Love backed into the road and was stuck and killed by a teenager who lost control in a drag race.

In a strange twist of fate, the teenager who also died in the accident was Kirby King Jr. of the King Bubblegum fortune. Rumor had it that in an act of pure spite, his father Kirby King Sr. had Love’s card removed from that season’s print run, nearly eliminating Love from basketball card history completely.

Since King Bubblegum held the rights to the ABA cards, no other Carlyle Love cards were to be printed. However, as any good collector knows, that’s not where this story ends.

Darius Jarrett Sr was a custodian working nights at the King Bubblegum factory outside of Charlotte, and Carlyle Love was his son’s favorite player. Having found a roll of scrapped uncut cards, Jarrett hand-scored five cards as a gift for his son’s birthday, and in doing so created one of the greatest treasure hunts in card collecting history.

No one can say what exactly happened to the five cards between when they were cut and when they began to surface, but as the collecting boom of the 90’s reared its head, so did the legend of Carlyle Love.

Championed as the players player, Love’s lore had grown ten fold in time, and likewise the value of the surviving cards.

Of the four cards that have come up for auction, three in fairly rough condition have fetched multi million dollar price tags. Some claim that a fifth PSA ten mint condition Love card still exists out there, and if it were ever to surface, auction houses say the price tag could be an earth shattering $20 million dollars... OR MORE! Not bad for a player you may never have even heard of… kind of makes us wonder how Carlyle Love would have felt about all this.