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Clyde Lovellette

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Clyde Lovellette
Lovellette with his mother Myrtle in 1956
Personal information
Born(1929-09-07)September 7, 1929
Petersburg, Indiana, U.S.
DiedMarch 9, 2016(2016-03-09) (aged 86)
North Manchester, Indiana, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight234 lb (106 kg)
Career information
High schoolGarfield (Terre Haute, Indiana)
CollegeKansas (1949–1952)
NBA draft1952: 1st round, 9th overall pick
Selected by the Minneapolis Lakers
Playing career1951–1964
PositionCenter
Number4, 34, 89
Career history
1951–1953Phillips 66ers
1953–1957Minneapolis Lakers
1957–1958Cincinnati Royals
1958–1962St. Louis Hawks
1962–1964Boston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points11,947 (17.0 ppg)
Rebounds6,663 (9.5 rpg)
Assists1,165 (1.6 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference
Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing the United States United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1952 Helsinki Team Competition

Clyde Edward Lovellette (/loʊˈvɛlɛt/ loh-VEL-et;[1] September 7, 1929 – March 9, 2016) was an American professional basketball player. Lovellette was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. He was the first basketball player in history to achieve the Triple Crown — playing on an NCAA championship team, Olympics gold medal basketball team, and NBA championship squad.

Basketball career

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Lovellette in 1961

Lovellette fostered the trend of tall, physical and high-scoring centers. A two-time All-State performer at Garfield High School in Terre Haute, Indiana. As a high school junior (1946–47), Lovellette's previously undefeated high school team in Terre Haute, Indiana, lost in the Indiana state championship finals to a Shelbyville team led by Bill Garrett. The six-foot-nine Lovellette later attended the University of Kansas where he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

While at Kansas, where he played for Basketball Hall of Fame coach Forrest "Phog" Allen, Lovellette was a two-time first-team All-American[1] and led the Big Seven Conference in scoring in each of his three seasons.[citation needed] He led the 1951–52 Jayhawks to the 1952 NCAA title, capturing Most Valuable Player honors, scoring a then-NCAA-record 141 points in the tournament, and becoming the first player to score 40 or more points in an NCAA tournament game when he scored 44 against Saint Louis in a West Region final game on March 22, 1952.[citation needed] Lovellette led the United States in scoring his senior year (1951–52) with 28.4 points per game and was named the Helms College Player of the Year.

Lovellette and basketball legend Dean Smith were teammates at Kansas. He is still the only college player to lead the nation in scoring and win the NCAA title in the same year. Lovellette's dominance in the paint landed him a place on the 1952 Summer Olympics gold medal team in Helsinki, Finland and he was the team's dominating player and leading scorer.[2]

In the 1952 NBA draft, Lovelette was picked ninth overall as the first-round pick of the Minneapolis Lakers.

Following graduation, Lovelette played in the 1951–1952 and 1952–1953 seasons for the Bartlesville Phillips 66ers.[3]

At the professional level, Lovelette became one of the first big men to move outside and utilize the one-handed set shot that extended his shooting range and offensive repertoire. This tactic enabled him to play either the small forward, power forward or center positions, forcing the opposition's big man to play out of position.[4] In 1957, Lovelette led Minneapolis to the NBA Western Division Finals by averaging a playoffs career best 24.2 points along with 9.4 rebounds per game.[5] Despite performing big, including scoring 33 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in Game 2 of the series,[6] Lovelette and the Lakers were eliminated by Bob Pettit and the St. Louis Hawks.

That offseason, Lovelette was traded to Cincinnati for 5 players, including Hot Rod Hundley and Monk Meineke.[7] A year later he was traded again, this time to St. Louis for Wayne Embry, among others.[8]

In 704 NBA games with the Minneapolis Lakers, Cincinnati Royals, St. Louis Hawks and Boston Celtics, Lovellette scored 11,947 points (17.0 ppg) and grabbed 6,663 rebounds (9.3 rpg). Selected to play in four NBA All-Star Games, Lovellette was an integral component of championships in Minneapolis (1954) and Boston (1963, 1964).[9]

In 1972–73, he coached the Decatur Bullets of the Continental Basketball Association for one season before the team folded. He was paid $150 per game.[10]

Honors

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Lovellette is one of only eight players in history to achieve the basketball Triple Crown — winning an NCAA championship, an NBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal.[11][12][13] He also became the first player to win a championship with both the Boston Celtics and Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers. Rajon Rondo became the second player ever in 2020.

Lovellette was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.

Lovelette had his #16 jersey retired by the University of Kansas.

Lovelette was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. As of 2018, Lovellette is the only player from the 1952 NBA draft to make the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

He was featured in the 1950s All-Star roster on NBA Live 2007.

Personal

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Clyde married Sally Wheeler while attending the University of Kansas. They had three daughters, Cynthia, Linda, and Cherie.

After retiring from his career as a professional basketball player he was elected as Sheriff of Vigo County, Indiana. He owned a small farm, raising and showing cattle. He also engaged in various business activities, eventually getting his master's degree.

At Whites Residential Services, a faith-based school in Wabash County, Indiana for at-risk teenagers, he served for 20 years and was successful in providing a positive influence on their lives.

A summer residence in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan ultimately became a full time residence in the small town of Munising where he served as the Varsity Basketball Assistant Coach and on the Munising City Council.

Clyde came back to Indiana as a full-time resident where he eventually died of cancer in North Manchester, at the age of 86, surrounded by his family.[14]

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1953–54† Minneapolis 72 17.4 .423 .695 5.8 0.7 8.2
1954–55 Minneapolis 70 33.7 .435 .686 11.5 1.4 18.7
1955–56 Minneapolis 71 35.5 .434 .721 14.0 2.3 21.5
1956–57 Minneapolis 69 36.1 .426 .717 13.5 2.0 20.8
1957–58 Cincinnati 71 36.5 .441 .743 12.1 1.9 23.4
1958–59 St. Louis 70 22.8 .454 .820 8.6 1.3 14.4
1959–60 St. Louis 68 28.7 .468 .821 10.6 1.9 20.8
1960–61 St. Louis 67 31.5 .453 .830 10.1 2.6 22.0
1961–62 St. Louis 40 29.8 .471 .829 8.8 1.7 20.9
1962–63† Boston 61 9.3 .428 .745 2.9 0.4 6.5
1963–64† Boston 45 9.7 .420 .789 2.8 0.5 6.7
Career 704 27.1 .443 .757 9.5 1.6 17.0
All-Star 3 23.7 .475 .500 9.3 1.3 13.3

Playoffs

[edit]
Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1954† Minneapolis 13 20.4 .450 .483 9.7 0.5 10.5
1955 Minneapolis 7 28.1 .449 .725 9.1 0.4 16.7
1956 Minneapolis 3 23.0 .487 .594 8.3 2.0 19.0
1957 Minneapolis 5 36.2 .432 .731 9.4 2.2 24.2
1958 Cincinnati 2 36.0 .387 .643 10.5 0.5 16.5
1959 St. Louis 6 26.8 .500 .786 9.8 1.3 15.3
1960 St. Louis 14 30.4 .393 .824 10.8 2.8 17.6
1961 St. Louis 8 23.9 .404 .660 6.5 1.4 15.4
1963† Boston 6 6.7 .269 .667 0.8 0.2 3.0
1964† Boston 5 8.0 .235 1.000 1.4 0.4 4.0
Career 69 23.8 .416 .684 8.1 1.3 14.0

References

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  1. ^ a b Litsky, Frank; McDonald, William (March 10, 2016), "Clyde Lovellette, Hall of Famer Who Brought Size and Skill to Basketball, Dies at 86", The New York Times
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Clyde Lovellette Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  3. ^ "NIBL-Clyde Lovellette".
  4. ^ "Hall of Famers: Clyde E. Lovellette". www.hoophall.com. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  5. ^ "Clyde Lovelette Per Game Playoffs". Basketball Reference.
  6. ^ "1957 NBA Western Division Finals Game 2". Basketball Reference.
  7. ^ "ROYALS, IN TRADE, SEND 5 TO LAKERS; Minneapolis Gives Lovelette and Gets Hundley". The New York Times. April 18, 1957.
  8. ^ "Sacramento Kings: Best trade in team history with every NBA franchise". Fansided. September 17, 2021.
  9. ^ "Clyde Lovellette Stats".
  10. ^ Fallstrom, Bob (January 3, 2011). "Shooting stars: Fame proved fleeting for the Decatur Bullets". Herald & Review. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  11. ^ {{cite [1]}}
  12. ^ Beslic, Stephen (November 11, 2022). "Eight players who have won NCAA, NBA, and Olympic titles". Basketball Network. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  13. ^ Cohn, Jordan (October 11, 2020). "Anthony Davis joins 7 other players to win NBA Finals, NCAA Championship, Olympic gold medal". 106.7 The Fan. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  14. ^ "KU basketball legend Clyde Lovellette dies at age 86", The Kansas City Star, March 9, 2016
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