The Clyde Lovellette Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Thursday, September 15th,
2005
Born on September 7th, 1929,
Lovellette emerged from the Great Depression largely unscathed. He grew
into a gangly teenager, head-and-shoulders above his classmates at Garfield
High School in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was shy for the most part,
withdrawn from his peers because of his height, and so mild-mannered that it
would be hard to characterize him as anything other than a 'gentle giant'.
By his junior year Lovellette was 6'8", and his coordination had, at long
last, caught up with his enormous frame. No longer the self-conscious
introvert, Lovellette blossomed on the basketball court, earning All-State
honors as a junior and a senior, and attracting the attention of more than
fifty major colleges in the process. It was generally assumed that
Lovellette would stay close to home, playing collegiate basketball in
hoop-crazed Indiana. But like Larry Bird decades later, Lovellette would
commit to Indiana University only to find the environment too large and too
intimidating for his taste. He chose Kansas instead, thanks to the repeated
overtures of head coach Forrest "Phog" Allen. The chemistry between coach
and player was immediate: Allen was the mentor in whom Lovellette
had been searching, and he convinced the young center that Kansas lacked
only a big man to win a national championship. He also sold Lovellette on
the Olympic Dream, a goal that, up until their initial meeting in Terre
Haute, had seemed as attainable as a trip to the moon.
For Lovellette, Kansas turned out to be the absolute best place in the
basketball universe. He fit in almost from the beginning, growing both as a
person and as an athlete, in large part because freshmen weren't eligible to
participate in varsity sports. He used the time to emerge even further from
his shell, and to further hone his basketball skills in pursuit of Phog's
promise of a national championship. As a sophomore, Lovellette proved to be
everything that Allen had predicted; the precocious big man finished the
season fourth in the nation in scoring, with a 21.8 points-per-game average,
was named All-Big Seven, and garnered the first of three All-America honors.
Lovellette's junior year was equally successful. His scoring average
improved to 22.8 points-per-game, once again placing him in the nation's top
five, as he and his Kansas teammates resumed their climb to basketball's
championship summit. He also found opposing defenses keying on him –
double-teams, collapsing pockets and rough play became the norm – but he
used the tactics to his advantage, developing the deadly outside shot that
would later become such an effective weapon in the NBA.
Everything came together for Lovellette and the Kansas Jayhawks during that
magical senior season. Lovellette led the nation in scoring at 28.4
points-per-game, and, true to the prophetic words of his head coach,
Lovellette led his team to the 1952 NCAA Championship. He was also named
NCAA Player of the Year by the Helms Foundation. "It seemed like from the
first time we stepped on the court that year against Creighton, good things
were going to happen," Lovellette told the Kansas City Star in 1988. "We
had been up and down in two years, but we all still liked each other and got
along. Phog was still a ball of fire then. It just all came together. It
was a great experience."
Lovellette was a dominating force during the Jayhawks' drive to that 1952
title. He scored a record 141 during the tournament, averaging 35
points-per-game in the process. His 44 points in the second round against
St. Louis set an NCAA tournament record, and his 33 points against St.
John's in the final game paved the way for an easy 80-63 championship
victory.
The storybook ride didn't end there. True to Allen's word, Lovellette was
selected to represent the United States in the 1952 Olympic Games in
Helsinki, Finland. As an added bonus, Allen was selected to join the
coaching staff as an assistant coach, while six of Lovellette's teammates –
Charles Hoag, William Hougland, John Keller, Melvin Kelley, Robert Kenney
and William Lienhard – were chosen to fill out the roster.
The Americans opened with big wins over Hungary and Czechoslovakia, before
struggling to dispose Uruguay, 57-44. Next up was a grudge match with the
Soviet Union; it was a highly aggressive and physical battle that saw six
Americans and four Soviet players foul out, while the U.S. crushed the
Soviets 86-58 behind 14 points each from Lovellette and Kenney. Lovellette
then scored 25 and 27-points in wins over Chile and Brazil, respectively,
and helped propel the U.S. over Argentina 85-76 and earn a trip to the
Olympic finals. Waiting for them were the Soviets, who still had only one
loss. This time it was a winner-take-all gold medal game. The USSR,
learning from its earlier loss, stuck to a strategy of tight defense and a
full court stall. After 10, minutes the U.S. led 4-3. Just prior to
halftime, the U.S. managed a basket and grabbed a 17-15 halftime lead. The
Soviets stayed with their tight defense and actually regained the lead early
in the second half. But the U.S. foiled the Soviet Union's upset attempt by
shooting well from the outside. After pulling ahead by nine, the U.S. began
its own stall causing one distraught Soviet player to stage a temporary
sit-down strike at midcourt. The Americans eventually went on to win,
36-25. Lovellette led the USA offense with nine points, while Kurland added
eight points.
"Going to the Olympics and representing the United States [had] to be the
biggest thrill of my entire basketball career," Lovellette said in 1979.
"Winning the gold medal was icing on the cake."
After a season playing AAU basketball for Phillips Petroleum, Lovellette decided that the timing was right to give the NBA a try. Wooed by the Milwaukee Hawks, Lovellette instead signed to play with the Minneapolis Lakers, arriving at the end of the George Mikan Dynasty. Playing behind Mikan as a rookie, Lovellette won an NBA title – the Lakers' fourth in five seasons – and became the first player to win a championship at all three levels.
