Rudolph A. LaRusso (November 11, 1937 – July 9, 2004) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who was a five-time

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He was nicknamed "Roughhouse Rudy."

Early life

LaRusso was Jewish, and was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. He attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn.The Los Angeles Lakers Encyclopedia – Richard J. Shmelter – Google Books
/ref> LaRusso, whose mother was Jewish and father was Italian, won All-City honors and was later inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. He attended and graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

. In 1959, playing for Dartmouth, he grabbed 32 rebounds in a game against Columbia, tying an

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

record. He also set Dartmouth records for rebounds in a season (503) and career (1,239), and was twice named All-Ivy League.

Professional career

Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers (1960–1967)

He was taken by the

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, having played and won championships in both the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) prior to ...

in the second round of the 1959 NBA draft out of

, and played eight years with them and two for the San Francisco Warriors. On November 26, 1959, he scored 15 points and 20 rebounds in a 95–114 loss to the Cincinnati Royals. He became the second Lakers rookie to have grabbed at least 20 rebounds in a single game, joining teammate

Elgin Baylor Elgin Gay Baylor ( ; September 16, 1934 – March 22, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and executive. He played 14 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lak ...

. On February 24, 1960, he scored a season-high 27 points in a 110–131 loss to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. In his second year, LaRusso slightly improved his statistics from his rookie season. In his second game of the season, LaRusso recorded a career-high 28 points in a 96–112 loss to the

St. Louis Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at S ...

. In 1962, he scored 50 points, at that point the most ever by a Jewish NBA basketball player, in a game for the Lakers against the

. In 1967–68, he finished seventh in the league with a career-best average of 21.8 ppg.

San Francisco Warriors (1967–1969)

Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke made a push to get rid of LaRusso from the team in the midst of a miserable 1966-67 season, reportedly calling him a "brute" around the basket. On January 16, 1967, he was sent to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

alongside a first-round draft pick while Mel Counts would go to the Lakers and the Pistons would give Ray Scott to the Baltimore Bullets. However, LaRusso refused to play for the Pistons, stating that he did not want to uproot his wife (seven months pregnant) and was already on the verge of retiring to focus more on stockbroking. The Bullets did not want to budge on the trade despite the Pistons and Lakers having second thoughts about the matter, and when the trade was ruled to be valid, the Pistons suspended LaRusso, who promptly retired. A few months later in August, his rights were sold to the San Francisco Warriors. He played two seasons with the team, playing over 75 games and averaging over 20 points in each season while being named an All-Star twice. He retired after the 1968-69 season to become an investment banker and sports agent.

Player profile

He was a five-time All-Star and was known for his rebounding, tight defense, toughness, and presence.

Personal life

LaRusso had a small cameo role in the ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

'' third-season episode "Bang! Bang! Bang!" as 'Agent Michaels'. He died of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

in 2004. He has a son, Corey LaRusso, and a daughter from another marriage, Christine Larusso, a Los Angeles-based poet.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" , - ! Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, 71 , , 29.5 , , .389 , , .742 , , 9.6 , , 1.2 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , style="background:#CFECEC;", 79* , , 32.8 , , .419 , , .790 , , 9.9 , , 1.7 , , 14.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , style="background:#CFECEC;", 80* , , 34.4 , , .466 , , .763 , , 10.4 , , 2.2 , , 17.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 75 , , 33.4 , , .422 , , .718 , , 10.0 , , 2.5 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 79 , , 34.8 , , .434 , , .751 , , 10.1 , , 2.4 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 77 , , 33.6 , , .461 , , .773 , , 9.4 , , 2.6 , , 14.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 76 , , 30.5 , , .457 , , .787 , , 8.7 , , 2.2 , , 15.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 45 , , 28.7 , , .415 , , .696 , , 7.8 , , 1.7 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", San Francisco , 79 , , 35.7 , , .433 , , .790 , , 9.4 , , 2.3 , , 21.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", San Francisco , 75 , , 37.1 , , .410 , , .794 , , 8.3 , , 2.1 , , 20.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 736 , , 33.3 , , .431 , , .767 , , 9.4 , , 2.1 , , 15.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 4 , , 17.5 , , .481 , , .333 , , 4.3 , , 1.5 , , 7.3

Playoffs

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" , - ! Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG , - , style="text-align:left;", 1960 , style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 35.7 , , .424 , , .771 , , 7.8 , , 2.4 , , 15.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1961 , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , style="background:#CFECEC;", 12* , , 30.0 , , .396 , , .667 , , 8.0 , , 2.0 , , 12.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 13 , , 35.5 , , .365 , , .758 , , 9.1 , , 1.7 , , 14.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

, style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , style="background:#CFECEC;", 13* , , 35.8 , , .422 , , .760 , , 9.8 , , 2.2 , , 14.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 5 , , 37.8 , , .394 , , .864 , , 6.0 , , 2.2 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

, style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 11 , , 35.9 , , .409 , , .716 , , 8.1 , , 2.6 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 14 , , 28.4 , , .460 , , .791 , , 7.1 , , 1.9 , , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, style="text-align:left;", San Francisco , 10 , , 38.5 , , .396 , , .728 , , 9.9 , , 1.7 , , 20.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1969 , style="text-align:left;", San Francisco , 6 , , 35.8 , , .378 , , .774 , , 8.5 , , 2.5 , , 18.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 93 , , 34.3 , , .405 , , .751 , , 8.4 , , 2.1 , , 14.5

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larusso, Rudy 1937 births 2004 deaths American men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Dartmouth Big Green men's basketball players Deaths from Parkinson's disease in California James Madison High School (Brooklyn) alumni Los Angeles Lakers players Minneapolis Lakers draft picks Minneapolis Lakers players NBA All-Stars Power forwards San Francisco Warriors players Basketball players from Brooklyn American people of Italian descent American people of Jewish descent