Although attired in a brilliant red sweater when he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988, Clyde Lovellette spoke fondly of having worn Celtic green.

“My loyalty is with the Celtics,’’ he said that day in Springfield. “The fans were unbelievable … and they got so fired up when we came onto the court.’’

He had led the University of Kansas to the NCAA championship in 1952, and then played 11 years in the National Basketball Association, the last two as a forward and a backup center to Celtics great Bill Russell.

The timing was just right for the 6-foot-8, 230-pound Mr. Lovellette. Before retiring in 1964, he took home two NBA championship rings with the Celtics to go along with an earlier championship season with the Minneapolis Lakers.

A three-time NBA All-Star who was called “Wide Clyde’’ by Celtics play-by-play announcer Johnny Most, Mr. Lovellette died of cancer Wednesday in the Timbercrest senior community in North Manchester, Ind., where he lived. He was 86.

“He was an excellent shooting big man — that was his strength,’’ recalled Celtics legend Bob Cousy, one of Mr. Lovellette’s teammates. “He wasn’t a pure athlete in terms of being swift, but he could shoot the hell out of the ball.’’

Cousy noted that Celtics coach Red Auerbach “had a habit of picking up future hall of famers or solid NBA players like Clyde at the end of their careers, who had exceptional skills in their prime and who could help us when we needed them to come off the bench.’’

Mr. Lovellette played on the 1954 NBA champion Minneapolis Lakers, the team that drafted him, and he also starred with the Cincinnati Royals and the St. Louis Hawks, where he was part of a great frontcourt tandem with Bob Pettit and Cliff Hagan.

Because of an injury, Mr. Lovellette missed half of the 1961-62 season with the Hawks and was signed by the Celtics in the fall of 1962.

“That was one of Red’s steals,’’ said his former Celtics teammate Tommy Heinsohn. “Clyde was one of the first NBA centers who improved his game by moving outside, and he was a quick shooter. The ball would be by your ear before you knew he had caught it.’’

When Mr. Lovellette arrived in Boston, “he could still get the job done for the nine or 10 minutes Red needed him, and he was a terrific basketball player,’’ Heinsohn added.

During the 1964 NBA finals against Wilt Chamberlain and the San Francisco Warriors, Mr. Lovellette took one for the team during Boston’s Game 2 blowout win at the Garden.

“We were just standing there in the pivot, pushing and shoving each other, you know how it is. I guess Wilt was kind of irritated about the way things were going for them,’’ Mr. Lovellette told Globe columnist Bud Collins after the game. “All of a sudden I think I saw this punch coming – and I blacked out for a second.’’

Mr. Lovellette fell to the floor. “I thought I was out of the way,’’ he told Collins, “but that big long arm was too much. It got me.’’

Collins reported that two referees claimed they didn’t see the punch. “They probably thought that Clyde was rolling around on the floor because he had an itch or something,’’ Collins noted.

Chamberlain, who like Mr. Lovellette earned All-American honors at the University of Kansas, said afterward that he didn’t treat Russell the same way because “I just don’t like Lovellette. And I like Bill Russell.’’

The following year, Mr. Lovellette got some verbal revenge when he told a United Press International reporter that although Chamberlain was a talented player, “he doesn’t try to make the plays that a superstar should make.’’

Mr. Lovellette had great respect for Russell, Auerbach, and his Celtics teammates, however. “Russell fascinated me both as a foe and a teammate,’’ he told the Globe in October 1964, when he correctly predicted Boston would win another title. “Playing behind him, I could have played forever because he doesn’t need much relief.’’

He added that “the Celtics have that perennial champions’ desire and spirit,’’ and said Auerbach could “keep 10 guys happier than anyone else except for Phog Allen’’ – Mr. Lovellette’s coach at Kansas.

When the Celtics played in St. Louis, Mr. Lovellette, whose family lived there, would host John Havlicek as a houseguest, recalled Mr. Lovellette’s daughter, Cindy Heckelsberg of Yorkville, Ill.

“I remember asking John for his autograph,’’ she said. “Dad loved that period of his life and he was honored to meet President Kennedy when the Celtics visited the White House.’’

Born in Petersburg, Ind., Clyde Edward Lovellette went to Garfield High School, about 75 miles north in Terre Haute, where he led the basketball team to the Indiana state finals. He was a three-time All-American at the University of Kansas.

Mr. Lovellette also was inducted into the college basketball, Kansas University, Indiana Basketball, and Helms Foundation halls of fame.

Nicknames came fast and furious early in his college career. In 1951, the Southeast Missourian at various times called him the All-American Alp, the Leaning Tower of Lawrence, and Mount Lovellette.

In 1952, he scored 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead Kansas to an 80-63 win over St. John’s in the NCAA title game. Along with six of his college teammates, he also helped lead the United States to a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Helsinki.

“Clyde’s passing is a big loss for anyone who has ever supported Kansas basketball,’’ said current Kansas head coach Bill Self, who added that Mr. Lovellette “was a great ambassador for our alma mater.’’

Cousy said Mr. Lovellette was “a character without having to work on being one,’’ and a quick-draw artist who would carry his six-shooters on the road.

Heinsohn remembered that Mr. Lovellette talked about wanting to be a sheriff after he left basketball, and in 1967 he was elected to that position in Indiana’s Vigo County. Mr. Lovellette fulfilled a campaign promise to close down the red light district and gambling establishments in Terre Haute, his family said.

“Dad loved horses, and when he ran for sheriff, we rode horses in a parade when he was campaigning,’’ Cindy said. “His slogan was, ‘A big man for a big job.’ While he was sheriff, he actually started a posse.’’

She added that “if I asked where he was going, he’d say with a laugh, ‘Crazy, do you want to go along?’ And I always said yes.’’

Mr. Lovellette’s first marriage, to Sally Wheeler, ended in divorce. She died in 1982. They had two other daughters, Linda McLeaish and Cherie Doyle, both of Indianapolis.

In 1970, he married Judith Wray, who lives in North Manchester, Ind. Mr. Lovellette also leaves a stepson, Robb of LaFontaine, Ind.; 12 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be announced.

Mr. Lovellette’s autobiography, coauthored by Lew Freedman, was published last year.

From 1979 to 1994, Mr. Lovellette was director of vocational and educational programs and coached basketball at White’s Residential and Family Services in Wabash, Ind.

“He was a man who loved people and kids … who chose to take his talents and give back by making a difference in people’s lives,’’ the organization said in a statement. “He was a giant man with a big heart and a love for those who needed it most.’’

Marvin Pave can be reached at marvin.pave@rcn.com.