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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who was a five-time All-Star in the

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

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

Early life

LaRusso was Jewish, and was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, 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 research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

. 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 athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schoo ...

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 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 The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

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

San Francisco Warriors (1968-1969)

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'' 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 long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

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

NBA Career Statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Minneapolis Lakers , 71 , , - , , 29.5 , , .389 , , - , , .742 , , 9.6 , , 1.2 , , - , , - , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 79 , , - , , 32.8 , , .419 , , - , , .790 , , 9.9 , , 1.7 , , - , , - , , 14.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 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 Warriors , 79 , , - , , 35.7 , , .433 , , - , , .790 , , 9.4 , , 2.3 , , - , , - , , 21.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", San Francisco Warriors , 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

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larusso, Rudy 1937 births 2004 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Centers (basketball) Dartmouth Big Green men's basketball players Neurological disease deaths in California Deaths from Parkinson's disease James Madison High School (Brooklyn) alumni Jewish American sportspeople Jewish men's basketball players Los Angeles Lakers players Minneapolis Lakers draft picks Minneapolis Lakers players National Basketball Association All-Stars Power forwards (basketball) San Francisco Warriors players Sportspeople from Brooklyn 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews