Jo Jo White was an iron man and one of the all-time NBA greats

This next player during the series is the No. 1 former Jayhawk guard to have the best NBA career, and one of only two backcourt players in the top-10. Jo Jo White was one of the all-time NBA greats who is now enshrined in Springfield, Mass., in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame after giving his heart and soul to the game for so many years.

No. 3 Jo Jo White

The No. 9 overall pick in the first round by the Boston Celtics in the 1969 NBA Draft just after legendary Boston center Bill Russell retired, Jo Jo White helped usher in a new era in Beantown while playing 12 seasons in the league and making his name as one of the all-time Celtics and NBA greats. White’s No. 10 jersey was retired and hung from the rafters on April 9, 1982 in Boston Garden, while he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in September 2015, a long overdue wait for the former Jayhawk star.

"I am so honored to be here,” ESPN.com reported White saying at his media conference on Sept. 10, the day before his induction. “I only wish my mother and father were here.

"I absolutely adored playing this game," White added. "I'm so proud to be right here."

The jubilant White, who had brain surgery seven years ago and had to relearn how to talk and walk, had no complaints that this magical and priceless moment took so long.

"I didn't play the game for (individual honors)," White said. "I don't make those decisions. To see them finally get to you, it's like, 'Oh, you're in now.' I don't make those decisions.”

The 6-3 guard, who played his first nine-plus seasons in Boston before finishing up with Golden State and Kansas City in 1981, ranks No. 9 all time in Celtics history in minutes and field goals, No. 8 in field goals attempts and points per game (18.4), No. 7 in assists, No. 10 in points and steals per game, and No. 6 in minutes per game (37.3).

White had a complete offensive and defensive game, and was one of the NBA’s first “iron men,” competing in all 82 games from 1972-77 and also playing over 3,200 minutes each season from 1971-77, where the St. Louis, Mo., native was an All-Star for seven-straight years while finishing in the top-10 in the league in total assists from 1972-77. He also ranked No. 9 in field goals in 1971-72 and No. 8 in 1975-76 and No. 7 in free throw percentage in 1976-77 and No. 6 in 1978-79.

White, who was named first-team All-Rookie and second-team All-NBA in 1974-75 and 1976-77, averaged a career-high 23.1 points per game in 1971-72 (third year in league) and a career-best 6.1 assists per game in 1972-73.

He helped lead the Celtics to the NBA championship in 1974 and 1976 and was MVP of the ‘76 Finals, the crowning moment of his career. White came up with a memorable and thrilling performance against the Phoenix Suns in Game Five, scoring a game-high 33 points, dishing a game-best nine assists in 60 minutes as Boston won, 128-126, in triple overtime.

Many basketball observers claim that to be the greatest game ever played.

“This I would say is frozen in time,” White said on NBA.com during a chat session in 2006. “I happened to be on the floor for 60 minutes of the game. I vividly remember just about every play made during that game.

“I personally would have to say it was one of the greatest games, and I was very happy to be a part of it. It had so many heroes in it. Certainly it was the longest game I'd ever been in, with so many players making so many big shots. It was draining. It was strenuous. You had to reach down for everything you had to pull out a victory. It had all the dramatics that anyone could ask for.”

White said he became extremely tired during the game, but was driven to complete the contest and win.

“Fatigue became a factor. I was tired, but I was conditioned to go the distance, so my thinking was that if I was tired, the other players were close to death. So that gave me motivation to push on, and any athlete worth his salt would want to be on the floor for that game, and I was up to the task.”

White, who competed in 837 games, finished his illustrious career with 14,399 points (17.2 ppg), 4,095 assists (4.9 apg), 3,345 rebounds (4.0 rpg) and 686 steals (1.3) in 35.8 minutes per game (No. 45 all time). White also shot 44.4 percent from the field and 83.4 percent at the free throw line (No. 96 all time).

White, who always came up big in the postseason, played in six playoff series (80 games) and averaged 21.5 points, 5.7 assists, 4.4 rebounds in 42.9 minutes per game.

He also ranks No. 84 all time in 2-point field goals and No. 42 in defensive rating (100.8).

Bill Simmons lists White the No. 95 best player in NBA history in his 2009 “The Book of Basketball.” Simmons cites White’s clutch play in Game Five of the ‘76 Finals, when he hit a big technical at the end of the second overtime, and then the clinching free throws in the third OT, “even though he was so exhausted by that point, he was sitting down on the court when Phoenix shot free throws.

“If your life depended on it, you wanted Jo Jo out there. Period.”

White was a tremendous all-around athlete and was actually also drafted by baseball’s Cincinnati Reds and the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. But he chose to pursue his first love with hoops. White’s former head coach at Boston, Tommy Heinsohn, who was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in September 2015 as a coach, said he was a supreme Celtic.

"I've been a big champion of (White). He should have been in a long time ago," Heinsohn told ESPN.com. "He was a significant player on a very successful (two-time championship team).

"I can still remember him, after the triple-overtime game where he played (60) minutes (of a possible 63), unable to get off the (locker room) floor after the game was over. He truly loved the game. And a lot of people took him for granted. He's one of those guys on the Celtics that was a terrific, terrific player."

Heinsohn was one of just many admirers of White’s during his career. The 1978 Complete Pro Basketball Handbook wrote that former Celtic great Bob Cousy “says (White’s) play selection is almost flawless.”

Before he achieved greatness in the NBA, White was a star at Kansas. A two-time All-American in 1968 and 1969, White was also a three-time All-Big Eight selection and a member of the 1968 gold-medal USA Olympic Team, where he became a national hero.

His jersey was retired in Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 27, 2003.

He scored a career-high 30 points against Colorado on Feb. 1, 1969 in his KU finale, the 999th win for the Jayhawk program, while finishing his career as the fourth-leading scorer in school history (1,286 points) and the highest among any KU guard.

“He had a truly great game considering the pressure, the occasion, his folks being here and the crowd wanting him to succeed,” KU coach Ted Owens told the Lawrence Journal-World afterwards. “I’ve never been happier for a player, and no player ever deserved such an ovation any more. I pulled him with 12 seconds left to sure he’d get the response he deserved.”

It was a fitting end to a stellar career. 

“Jo Jo White (was) probably the best guard that ever played in the Big Eight,” former and late KU assistant Sam Miranda told me in a November 2000 interview.

White, who was a mid-year high school graduate, came to Kansas without Owens and ace recruiter Miranda actually ever seeing him play.

“He worked out for just one or two days before the big freshmen rivalry game against Kansas State,” Owens wrote in his 2013 book, “At the Hang-Up.”

“It wasn’t very far into the game before we knew we had a tremendous player on our hands. Jo Jo was 6’3” and 190 pounds, and if a coach were going to order a point guard off the Internet (it would’ve been a mail order catalogue back then), the point guard would have looked like Jo Jo. He was such a complete player with great court vision, a calm and confident court presence and the ability to put pressure on the opposition point guard — oh, yeah, and he could shoot it, too.”

White shot, dribbled, passed and defended all the way to the Hall of Fame. His induction speech was prerecorded due to his health problems and shown on the video board. It was an emotional speech which received a huge ovation.

“In May 2010, I was diagnosed with a tumor on my brain,” White said. “The doctor said I wasn’t supposed to be here, but God had other other plan(s), and for this, I am truly, truly grateful. I always tried to be the best. I tried out for the high school JV team. I got cut, so what did I do? I went out for the varsity team and made it. ... I had two great mentors at the University of Kansas, my head coach Ted Owens (he was in attendance at White’s HOF induction) and the team’s assistant coach Sam Miranda. To Sam and Ted, I love you.

“Being drafted by the Boston Celtics was one of the best things to ever happen to me...”

And “one of the best things to ever happen” to the Celtics in Beantown, where his jersey lives in the rafters at TD Garden.

For all time.

Clyde Lovellette was one of NBA's first great big men

This legendary KU big man had some dominant seasons in the NBA, and made his name as a true enforcer who wouldn’t back down from any opponent. Clyde Lovellette is a Hall of Famer and one of the all-time NBA greats, who makes the top-four among former Jayhawks who had the best NBA career.

No. 4 Clyde Lovellette

One of the first great big men in the NBA and also one of the first big guys to venture on the perimeter and showcase a lethal one-handed set shot, the 6-9 Lovellette played 11 seasons in the league with the Minneapolis Lakers, Cincinnati Royals, St. Louis Hawks and Boston Celtics. The Terre Haute, Ind., native, who played for three NBA championship teams with Minneapolis (1954) and Boston (1963,’64), was a four-time All-Star in 1956, ‘57, 1960 and ‘61 (21 points and 10 rebounds in the 1961 game) while inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988.

The No. 9 overall pick in the first round by Minneapolis in the 1952 NBA Draft, Lovellette’s most productive offensive season came in 1957-58 with Cincinnati, when he averaged 23.4 points while also posting 12.1 rebounds per game. Lovellette, who posted a career-high 14.0 rebounds per game in 1955-56 for Minneapolis when he made All-NBA Second Team, averaged over 20 points in six seasons and also 10-plus rebounds per game in six seasons. He also averaged a double-double in six seasons, including four straight from 1954-58.

Lovellette ranked among the league leaders in several categories, including points per game (1954-58), 2-point field goals (1954-58; No. 1 in 1957-58 with 679), field goal attempts (1954-58), field goal percentage (1953-62), free throw percentage (1958-1961), free throw attempts (1955-56), minutes (1955-58), games (No. 2 with 72 in 1953-54), rebounds per game (1954-58) and player efficiency rating (1954-61).

A true winner who was dubbed “The Terre Haute Terror,” “The Great White Whale” and “The Monster,” Lovellete also competed in 10 playoffs. He exploded for 24.2 points per game for Minneapolis in the 1957 playoffs, averaged 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds for Cincinnati in 1958, and then 17.6 points and 10.8 rebounds with St. Louis in 1960.

One of the highlights of his career was playing against another Jayhawk legend in Wilt Chamberlain.

“I enjoyed playing against him in the NBA because there was a lot of motivation--mainly I was sorry to see him leave KU after two years,” Lovellette told Mark Stallard in his 2005 book, “Tales from the Jayhawks Hardwood.”

“I didn’t know the circumstances, but I thought it was terrible that he would leave Kansas and not stay his four years. I always kept that in the back of my mind when I got ready to play a game against him, because it made it just a little sweeter if we’d defeat him. ... He couldn’t guard me outside, so I took him outside and shot. Of course, we didn’t have the three-point shot then, but I would have done real well with it. We’d always put Bob Pettit inside or Cliff Hagan inside, and I’d take Wilt outside, and we had a great run with him. I hate to play Bill Russell more than I did Chamberlain. Russell was quicker, a defensive ballplayer. Wilt, I enjoyed playing against him.”

While he only played with the Lakers his first four seasons in the league, Lovellette made an indelible impact. Cody Williams of lakeshowlife.com wrote in 2015 that the former KU All-American ranks as the No. 9 best draft pick in Lakers history.

“With their first-round pick in the 1952 NBA Draft, the then Minneapolis Lakers selected a big man out of Kansas by the name of Clyde Lovellette,” Williams wrote. “Lovellette immediately made an enormous impact on the Lakers organization, helping lead them to a title in 1954 in just his (rookie) season in the league. Lovellette played four seasons with the Lakers and was phenomenal in his time there. The 6-9 forward-center averaged 17.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, but it was the mismatches he created in against virtually every opponent.

“Lovellette had the ability to stretch the floor slightly before that was a common thing in the game. As a big man, he could step out and knock down short jumpers away from the rim, meaning that opposing big men would have to play out of position to defend him. Lovellette wasn’t around long with the Lakers as he left after the 1957 season, but he helped bring them to glory upon his arrival and brief tenure with the team. He was a big man uncommon to the era with his versatility at his size. Had he been a Laker for life, he’d certainly have been higher on this list, but his impact still deserves a spot in the Top 10.”

After four years in Minneapolis, the Lakers traded Lovellette to Cincinnati, where he played just one season in 1957-58 before being shipped to St. Louis. He enjoyed four years with the Hawks and playing with two future Hall of Famers in Hagan and Pettit.

While he was known as a very physical, rough and even the dirtiest player in the league, Lovellette also was a great offensively skilled center.

“People forget that Clyde was a very good basketball player,” Hagan told Terry Pluto in his 1992 book, “Tall Tales.”

“He couldn’t move up and down the court very well and he certainly couldn’t jump. But he got a lot of rebounds and had great range on his shot, especially for a center. He meant a lot to my game because his shooting brought the opposing center away from the basket and opened the middle for me.”

Lovellette was sold by St. Louis to the Celtics after the 1961-62 season, where he teamed with Russell. Zelmo Beaty told Pluto the story behind Lovellette leaving the Hawks.

“When I was a rookie, Clyde Lovellette was on the team,” Beaty said. “We had a scrimmage and Clyde hit me in the back. It was a blow that could have cost me my career, because I went face-first into the backboard. I was all right, but Mr. Kerner (Ben, Hawks owner) came running out of the stands screaming at Clyde about trying to hurt his No. 1 draft choice. Within a week, Mr. Kerner traded Clyde to create a spot for me.”

That worked out fine for Lovellette, who added two more championships with Boston. He was a player who certainly made a legendary name in the league.

“In short, Clyde Edward Lovellette is basketball royalty of the highest order,” Michael McClellan of Celtic Nation wrote in 2005.

“My strength was I could shoot, I was strong, I was not going to be intimidated and I was so mean,” Lovellette told the Star Tribune in 1987. “I caused a lot of controversy as far as roughness goes. I took my lumps and gave them.”

He played in 704 games while scoring 11,947 points (17.0 ppg) and grabbing 6,663 rebounds (9.5 rpg). Lovellete, who also dished out 1,097 assists, shot 44.3 percent from the field and 75.7 percent at the free throw line.

That career 9.5 rebounds per game ranks No. 62 in NBA history, while Lovellete’s 21.6 player efficiency rating ranks No. 40 in NBA annals.

He died of cancer in 2016 at age 86. Jeannie Buss, the Lakers’ co-owner at the time (now controlling owner), expressed her sentiments to the Star Tribune over what Lovellette meant to the franchise (Minneapolis departed for Los Angeles after the 1959-60 season).

“Clyde was a link to our early years in Minnesota, and a key member of the 1954 championship team,” Buss said. “We’re proud that he was a Laker, and his passing is a sad day for our organization.”

The first basketball player in history to play on an NCAA, Olympics, AAU and NBA championship squad, Lovellette is still the only college player to lead the nation in scoring (28.6 ppg) and win the NCAA title in the same year (1952), where he earned MOP honors and scored a then-NCAA record 141 points during the tournament. He was named the Helms College Player of the Year.

A three-time All-American at KU, Lovellette led the Big Seven in scoring in each of his three seasons and was the leading scorer on the USA’s gold-medal Olympic team in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

His jersey was retired in Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 15, 1992, while Lovellette was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame on Nov. 19, 2012.

“There are too many people to thank for being enshrined in the Hall of Fame,” Lovellette said during his induction. “It’s always an honor to be inducted to a Hall of Fame. It’s always great to be represented in basketball. That’s been my life ever since I could bounce the ball. Playing for a great coach like Phog Allen and being with a group of guys like Bill Lienhard, Bill Hougland and Bob Kenney, those are the people that really make the team. Without a staff around you, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t believe one man can win any ball games. They can have a big impact, but the other four men that are with him, that’s where you develop team play, camaraderie and the real togetherness to win a ball game.”

Lienhard told me during a 2000 interview that KU became a championship team in 1952 once Lovellette became a more team-oriented player. The Jayhawks finished just 16-8 the previous season before transforming into a team for the ages in 1952 with a stunning 28-3 record.

“I think they (coaches) finally convinced Clyde that he had to play team ball and pass the ball to the other players,” Lienhard said. “When he started doing that and when we started working really as a team, it made a big difference. We finally jelled. ... It paid off for him, because when he started throwing the ball to the other players, the defenders couldn’t stay on him all the time.  They had to guard somebody else.”

And Lovellete became completely unstoppable with his deadly hook shot.

“I started out with a good hook and then I had a good one-handed shot,” Lovellette said. “The hook shot has sort of gone away because not many people play with their back to the basket anymore. They’re big enough and moving quicker. They’re out there in front where they can see the basket. I shot my shot with my back to the basket, so I couldn’t see the basket. You had to have that touch and distance. It just came natural.”