Over the past three seasons Kevin Love has turned himself into one of the most dominant players in the NBA.
For the past three seasons he has averaged a double-double in points and rebounds and last year he posted his career-best stats, averaging 26 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. In the 2010-11 season, he led the NBA in rebounding, averaging 15.2 per game and also had the longest consecutive double-double streak since 1976 with 53 games.
Love played for the U.S. Olympic team, but was the only player on the squad who had yet to take his team to the playoffs.
Coming into 2012 Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves had high hopes with a young and energetic roster, but the start of the season will be tough for the team now that Love has suffered an injury.
On Wednesday morning during a practice, Love broke his right hand and could miss from six to eight weeks. The Timberwolves open the regular season against Sacramento on Nov. 2.
"I think all of our fans anticipated this season with great enthusiasm. We knew we were going to have to wait for Ricky, and now we have two guys to wait for," said team owner Glen Taylor to the Associated Press. "But again, I'm going to be positive about it and say we've got some young guys and let's see them step up."
Second-year player Derrick Williams, who was the No. 2 pick last season in the draft, and Dante Cunningham will take the place of Love in the rotation.
"I think he's really an energy guy," coach Rick Adelman has said about Cunningham. "Very good defender. Does all the little things. Him and Lou are very similar. The things that maybe we didn't do so well last year, running down loose balls, getting to the offensive boards, keeping the boards alive."
Love signed a four-year contract extension worth $62 million in January and is one of the most important pieces to the franchise. Along with Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio, who is also hurt, Love makes the Timberwolves one of the most exciting teams in the league.
Even though the team hasn't made the playoffs since 2004, the future was looking bright this season. The team brought in numerous veterans to complement their young players, including Brandon Roy and Andrei Kirilenko.
"We have a great training camp and we can get off to a good start and guys stay healthy, there's really no telling what we can do," Love said just before training camp opened. "I know a lot of teams in the Western Conference have loaded up, but I still feel we can knock those teams off and have a really good year."
Love had a hand injury in 2009 and missed 18 games, but this time the injury is more serious. According to ESPN.com, Love "was scheduled to fly to New York for an examination by Dr. Andy Weiland on Thursday."
When Love was drafted fifth overall by the Memphis Grizzlies, he was considered to be a great talent and a solid player, but not one with superstar capabilities. He was traded on draft night to the Timberwolves and has shaped himself into a premier player in the league.
Over the summer he played a key role on the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic baseball team and last year he set a Minnesota franchise record for most games scoring over 30 points in a season.
Although Love will start the season injured, if Minnesota can stay competitive for the first couple months of the season, the team will have a key addition to add back into the rotation once he gets healthy.