5. Rudy LaRusso
Much like Elgin Baylor, Rudy LaRusso became a Laker at the end of their tenure in Minneapolis. As previously mentioned, these early Los Angeles Lakers teams would run into Bill Russell and a dominant Celtic team that won the title nine out of 10 years in the 1960s.
Rudy and Elgin came close in 1962 but suffered a brutal overtime loss in Game 7 of the 1962 NBA Finals. They would also come up short in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1969 at the hands of the mighty Celtics.
Despite his NBA Finals’ shortcomings, Rudy would finish his career as a five-time NBA All-Star with career averages of 15.6 points and 9.4 rebounds.
In spite of his impressive numbers and place on a consistently contending Laker team, our friends at Hoops Habit rank Rudy LaRusso’s as one of the three most underrated Lakers of all-time.
Although many will argue that a championship is not always a necessity of a Hall of Fame career, we can’t help but wonder if LaRusso would be enshrined in the Hall of Fame with his jersey hanging in the rafters of Staples Center had the 1960s Lakers managed to win just one title.