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.”