Obituary: Clyde Lovellette, key part of Minneapolis Lakers' glory days

Clyde Lovellette, a champion at the college, Olympic and NBA levels of basketball who was a key piece during the Minneapolis Lakers' glory days, has died.

Lovellette, a two-time All-American center with the Kansas Jayhawks before playing for the NBA championship Lakers in 1954 followed by two more titles as a Boston Celtic in the early 1960s, lost his battle with cancer on Wednesday, his alma mater announced.

The 1952 Olympic gold medalist was 86 and living in North Manchester, Ind., at the time of his death, about 180 miles northeast of his native Terre Haute.

The nicknames hung on the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Lovellette aptly described his dominance near the basket: "The Terre Haute Terror," "The Great White Whale," "The Monster."

"Clyde was a link to our early years in Minnesota, and a key member of the 1954 championship team," said Jeanie Buss, a co-owner of the franchise, which left Minneapolis for Los Angeles after the 1959-60 season. "We're proud that he was a Laker, and his passing is a sad day for our organization."

Jayhawks Head Coach Bill Self said that "Clyde's passing is a big loss for anyone who has ever supported Kansas athletics. … He was a beloved teammate and a great ambassador for his alma mater."

In the 1952 NCAA championship game, Lovellette scored 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead Kansas to an 80-63 win over St. John's. Also in 1952, Lovellette and six fellow Jayhawks helped lead Team USA to the gold medal over the Soviets at the Olympics in Helsinki.

Lovellette was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in May 1988 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

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

His 12-year NBA career began with Minneapolis after the Lakers chose him at the bottom of the first round with the ninth pick in the 1952 draft. He would have gone sooner, but Lovellette announced he was going to join an AAU team called the Phillips 66ers and not turn pro. So every team passed him up except for the Lakers. He joined the team the following season as George Mikan's backup, when the Lakers won the NBA title, their fourth in five years.

In four seasons with the Lakers, he averaged 17.2 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. He twice led the team in scoring, with averages of 21 and 20.8 points.

Lovellette then went to Cincinnati for one season and St. Louis for four before becoming a Celtic for two seasons. Both years in Boston earned him NBA championships.

Soon after retirement, he twice was elected sheriff of Vigo County, Ind., which includes his hometown of Terre Haute. "I was always playing cops and robbers or cowboys and Indians as a boy and dreaming about being a law enforcement officer," he said in the 1987 interview.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482