Or is it the other way around, Kevin Love being Linas Kleiza.

Kleiza preceded Love, but it is fair to say Love has more notoriety.

My buddy Mark brought this up recently, and I figured now would be the time to mention it, seeing as how the Los Angeles Lakers have manhandled the Denver Nuggets to the point where Denver may as well be eliminated in 3 games. The time to bring attention to this is now, while at least one of the aforementioned basketballers is still playing this year.

One wears #42 while the other is #43. Both wear powder blue jerseys on the road. Both can step out to hit the three. They have identical white boy looks.

In summation, they are identical, save for notoriety, country of origin, one jersey number, and body composition (due to K. Love being a fatty)

As most college basketball standouts were declaring for the NBA Draft, UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough decided to go the opposite direction. Rare.

Granted, Hansbrough had expressed interest in returning to win an NCAA Championship. The fact that he went out in the Final Four this year only adds to this, as it has to leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

He’s won at the high school level, being crowned Missouri state champ a few times. Now he wants to stay at UNC for his senior season to chase college glory. Wow, think he would make a good, driven pro? Winning is this dude’s M.O.

You would think someone like Kevin Love would have stayed in school as well for similar reasons. He burned out in the Final Four as well and couldn’t even touch the ball. Plus he comes from freaking Lake Oswego, Oregon - an affluent Portland suburb. It’s not like he’s cash strapped and from the hood, needing to feed his children and baby mommas.

David Stern has been trying to encourage such Hansbrough-esque behavior by instituting a new age limit, essentially forcing kids to at least go through their freshman year. Most recruits will still be one and out and onto the NBA, but perhaps some will be drawn in and want to shoot for a collegiate crown.

But for now, were still waiting on that sea change to occur. In the interim, we lost Love, but we still have the retard-strong Hansbrough. One out of two Great White Hopes ain’t bad.