Lovellette, Clyde E.
Basketball
b. Sept. 7, 1929, Terre Haute, IN
Lovellette was awkward as a boy because of his size, so his mother made him jump rope and do exercises to develop agility, and he gave her credit for his success as a basketball player. He was the first of four players to be on an Olympic gold medal team, an NCAA champion, and an NBA champion.
Lovellette was also one of the first big, high-scoring centers. At 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds, he could score from close to the basket and he also had a fine jump shot. Twice an All-American at the University of Kansas, in 1951 and 1952, he led the nation in scoring with a 28.4 average and was named college player of the year in 1952. Kansas won the NCAA championship that year and Lovellette was named the tournament's most valuable player, scoring a record 141 points in four games, including a single-game record of 44.
After playing AAU basketball for a season, Lovellette joined the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers in 1953. They won the NBA championship in his first season. He also played for two Boston Celtics teams that won NBA titles, in 1963 and 1964.
Lovellette was with the Cincinnati Royals for one season, 1957-58 and the St. Louis Hawks from 1958-59 through 1961-62 before joining the Celtics for two seasons. He retired in 1964 with a total of 11,947 points in 704 games, an average of 17.0 a game. He had 7,220 career rebounds.