CHICAGO (CBS) — Bob Love, an NBA basketball legend who played nine seasons with the Chicago Bulls, died Monday.

Love died after a long battle with cancer, the Bulls said. He was 81.

Love was born in Louisiana on Dec. 8, 1942. As a child, he suffered from a stutter, which led him to turn inward and dream of playing basketball professionally, according to the HistoryMakers.

Love used to practice with wire hangers shaped like hoops that he would nail into his grandmother’s house, according to the HistoryMakers.

Love graduated from Morehouse High School in Bastrop, Louisiana and then from Southern University in Baton Rouge with a degree in Food and Nutrition. He first played basketball with the Cincinnati Royals.

Love went on to play for the Milwaukee Bucks—and joined the Bulls in the middle of the 1968-1969 season. During his time with the Bulls, Love—nicknamed “Butterbean”—was a three-time NBA All-Star.

Love was also the Bulls’ leading scorer for seven straight years, and remains the second-highest scorer in Bulls history after Michael Jordan.

The Bulls called Love a “tenacious defender and a cornerstone of our team.”

Love suffered a back injury in 1976. He was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics, but his basketball career was soon over.

The HistoryMakers noted that Love struggled after leaving professional basketball—with his stutter posing a challenge for his obtaining steady work. He was working as a dishwasher for $4.45 an hour by 1984, the HistoryMakers reported.

But Love’s stutter was treated by a therapist, and by 1992, he was back with the Bulls as the director of community affairs, the HistoryMakers reported. In the years afterward, Love also gave motivational speeches.

“[Love] became an inspirational figure and a passionate community ambassador for the Bulls, dedicating himself to charitable causes and uplifting countless lives with his motivational speeches,” the Bulls said. “We are profoundly grateful for his enduring contributions and legacy both on and off the court in Chicago.”

Love’s No. 10 jersey has been retired and hangs in the rafters at the United Center.