In the summer in parts of Los Angeles, beach volleyball is a way of life. Very good athletes are out diving and leaping in the sand at 16th Place in Manhattan Beach (and a host of other spots from Pacific Palisades down to Newport).
Countless of basketball stars with Southern California ties have worked out playing beach volleyball — all the way back to Wilt Chamberlain (who was very good and played for many years after his NBA career ended, we used to see him up in Pali all the time) and Bill Walton through Sasha Vujacic and Chase Budinger (who was a top flight prep volleyball player).
Now add Kevin Love to the list.
The Timberwolves big man was in New York testing out his game on a makeshift beach court in Times Square Tuesday as part of the Pro Beach Volleyball Series. It is sponsored by Jose Cuervo and Love plans to play in the Manhattan Beach Open next month (the biggest beach volleyball tournament in the nation).
Laugh if you want, but if you can run and jump in the sand, you sky when you get back on the hardwood. It’s a great workout. And you’d like to think it would be easy on your body — Misty May won an Olympic gold just fine then blew out her Achilles on Dancing With The Stars. Although you might want to ask Robert Edwards about that.
