Education
Detroit Catholic Central High School.
Detroit Catholic Central High School.
After playing collegiately at the University of North Carolina, LaGarde was selected 9th overall in the first round of the 1977 National Basketball Association Draft by the Denver Nuggets. At 6"10" and 220 lb, LaGarde played forward and center in the National Basketball Association. After spending his rookie season with the Nuggets, LaGarde spent the following two seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics. In 1980, he was selected by the expansion Dallas Mavericks that offseason in the expansion draft.
LaGarde was the only team member who played all 82 games for the Mavericks in their inaugural 1980-1981 season, finishing second on the team in points to Jim Spanarkel and leading the team in rebounds and block shots.
LaGarde saw his playing time diminish the following season, averaging just 19 minutes per game in 47 games for the Mavericks. LaGarde appeared in only one game that season before suffering a season-ending calf injury.
In 2008 he created a video parody of McCain-Palin called the Original Mavericks for Truth. Together, they redeveloped an old mill, which is now a 700-person music venue, called the Haw River Ballroom.