Background
LaRusso was Jewish, and was born in Brooklyn, New New York
LaRusso was Jewish, and was born in Brooklyn, New New York
He attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn. He attended and graduated from Dartmouth College.
He was nicknamed "Roughhouse Rudy."
In 1958, playing for Dartmouth, he grabbed 32 rebounds in a game against Columbia, tying an Ivy League record. He was taken by the Minneapolis Lakers in the second round of the 1959 National Basketball Association Draft out of Dartmouth College, and played eight years with them and two for the San Francisco Warriors. He was a five time All-Star.
In 1962 he scored 50 points, at that point the most ever by a Jewish National Basketball Association basketball player, in a game for the Lakers against the Saint Louis Hawks.
In 1967-1968, he finished seventh in the league with a career-best average of 21.8 ppg. Rudy 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.