NBA's Love Turns to Beach Volleyball

In a scene reminiscent of Rocky III, when boxer Sylvester Stallone takes on wrestling star Hulk Hogan, the Manhattan Beach Open-Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Volleyball Series got underway Thursday morning with a match featuring one of the NBA’s brightest stars and one of beach volleyball’s hottest teams.

Kevin Love, who played forward at UCLA and is a current All-Star member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, teamed up with professional beach volleyball player Hans Stolfus to take on Sean Scott (Redondo Beach) and John Hyden who have won every professional tournament this summer.

"Any time you can showcase our great game, then I'm all for it," said Hyden of playing against the newsworthy Love. "I think that whatever we can do to get people to see our game, I'm for.

"Beach volleyball is a sport that once you see [it], you start to fall in love with [it], and hopefully we got some people out here today for Kevin who will be fans of our sport from now on. That's why we agreed to do this."

The pair of Scott and Hyden was too much for Love and Stolfus who easily disposed of the pair in two sets, winning 21-16 and 21-15. The scores were a lot closer than they should have been.

“It’s tough to play sand no matter how good of an athlete you are,” Hyden, who was a member of the USA Volleyball team in 1996 and 2000, said of Love’s play. “I mean I played on the Olympics indoor [team] and when I came out on the sand I found out quickly that it is a total different game. But he [Love] came out and really looked like if he worked at it, that it is something that maybe he could do in the future.”

Scott and Hyden, who went undefeated in winning  the 2011 Corona Light Wide Open tournament last week in Hermosa Beach, are the favorites to repeat again this weekend in the MB Open.  

The duo also went undefeated the entire Corona Light Open season and previously captured Wide Open titles at Siesta Key, Florida, Seaside Heights, New Jersey, and Chicago, Illinios.

“We’ve been playing well this summer,” Scott said. “I think we are playing our best volleyball of the summer right now, which couldn’t come at a better time because this is the tournament that matters the most.”

For Love, who is currently dealing with the NBA lockout situation, this was a chance to get in shape and test him self against top notch athletes of another sport.

“I thought it was fun and something I definitely want to continue doing,” Love said of his volleyball play. “I thought I did a good job, and have been making steady progress the past couple of weeks working out [with] Hans, Geeter (Chris McGee), and Jesse (Rambis).

"I thought I would be playing against a regular team but they put me in there against two of the best on the beach this year.”

Love was introduced to his partner, Stolfus, by his former Minnesota Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis’ son Jesse who played volleyball at UCLA.

“We have known each other for the past couple of years through my dad,” Rambis said of his connection to Love. “When the lockout came about, I knew he had an interest in volleyball and so I invited him to come out and he has been there almost every day this summer working on his game.

"I knew Hans was coming off an injury and I thought the two would be a great team.”

Rambis, who was raised and lives in Manhattan Beach, has been playing on the beach for the last three years. He is teaming up with Kevin Wong this weekend.

“This is the tournament that every beach player wants to win,” Rambis said of the Manhattan Beach Open. “I’m excited for this opportunity this weekend and look forward to competing.”

Hurricane Irene on the East Coast has forced the cancellation of the National Volleyball League’s Virginia Beach tournament this weekend, with those teams now boosting the weekend field at the MB Open.

The Manhattan Beach Open will have 32 teams competing on the women’s side while 58 men’s teams will be vying for a chance at the coveted title.

“We are happy to be back at Manhattan Beach,” said MB Open Tournament Director Matt Gage. “We have a really strong field, beautiful weather and the most historic place to play."