Rudy LaRusso

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Rudy LaRusso
San Francisco Warriors
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points
11,507 (15.6 ppg)
Rebounds6,936 (9.4 rpg)
Assists1,556 (2.1 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Rudolph A. LaRusso (November 11, 1937 – July 9, 2004)

All-Star in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[2] He was nicknamed "Roughhouse Rudy."[3]

Early life

LaRusso was Jewish, and was born in

James Madison High School in Brooklyn.[6] 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.[6] He attended and graduated from Dartmouth College.[3][7] In 1959, playing for Dartmouth, he grabbed 32 rebounds in a game against Columbia, tying an Ivy League record.[7] He also set Dartmouth records for rebounds in a season (503) and career (1,239), and was twice named All-Ivy League.[6]

Professional career

Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers (1960–1967)

He was taken by the

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

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 (1968–1969)

Player profile

He was a five-time All-Star and was known for his rebounding, tight defense, toughness, and presence.[2][3]

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

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 *  Led the league

NBA

Source[11]

Regular season

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1959–60
Minneapolis
71 29.5 .389 .742 9.6 1.2 13.7
1960–61
L.A. Lakers
79* 32.8 .419 .790 9.9 1.7 14.6
1961–62
L.A. Lakers
80* 34.4 .466 .763 10.4 2.2 17.2
1962–63
L.A. Lakers
75 33.4 .422 .718 10.0 2.5 12.3
1963–64
L.A. Lakers
79 34.8 .434 .751 10.1 2.4 12.3
1964–65
L.A. Lakers
77 33.6 .461 .773 9.4 2.6 14.1
1965–66
L.A. Lakers
76 30.5 .457 .787 8.7 2.2 15.4
1966–67
L.A. Lakers
45 28.7 .415 .696 7.8 1.7 12.8
1967–68
San Francisco
79 35.7 .433 .790 9.4 2.3 21.8
1968–69
San Francisco
75 37.1 .410 .794 8.3 2.1 20.7
Career 736 33.3 .431 .767 9.4 2.1 15.6
All-Star 4 17.5 .481 .333 4.3 1.5 7.3

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1960
Minneapolis
9 35.7 .424 .771 7.8 2.4 15.4
1961
L.A. Lakers
12* 30.0 .396 .667 8.0 2.0 12.2
1962
L.A. Lakers
13 35.5 .365 .758 9.1 1.7 14.1
1963
L.A. Lakers
13* 35.8 .422 .760 9.8 2.2 14.4
1964
L.A. Lakers
5 37.8 .394 .864 6.0 2.2 9.0
1965
L.A. Lakers
11 35.9 .409 .716 8.1 2.6 15.0
1966
L.A. Lakers
14 28.4 .460 .791 7.1 1.9 11.9
1968
San Francisco
10 38.5 .396 .728 9.9 1.7 20.3
1969
San Francisco
6 35.8 .378 .774 8.5 2.5 18.2
Career 93 34.3 .405 .751 8.4 2.1 14.5

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Crowe, Jerry (July 10, 2004). "Rudy LaRusso, 66; Played on 1st L.A. Laker Team". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  2. ^ . Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  3. ^ . Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  4. ^ "LaRusso, Rudy : Jews In Sports @ Virtual Museum". jewsinsports.org. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  5. . Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c The Los Angeles Lakers Encyclopedia – Richard J. Shmelter – Google Books
  7. ^ . Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  8. ^ "Minneapolis Lakers at Cincinnati Royals Box Score, November 26, 1959". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  9. ^ "Minneapolis Lakers vs Boston Celtics Box Score, February 24, 1960". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  10. ^ "Los Angeles Lakers at St. Louis Hawks Box Score, October 22, 1960". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  11. Basketball Reference
    . Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved October 1, 2023.

External links