Mark Landsberger


Mark Walter Landsberger is a retired American professional basketball player. At 6'8" and 225 pounds, he played the power forward and center positions.

Career

Landsberger attended Mounds View High School where he graduated in 1973 after leading the Mustangs to the 1972 AA State Championship as a junior. In his senior campaign, he averaged 26.1 points per game, and led the Mustangs back to the state tournament and the consolation championship. Over his high school varsity career, he scored 1,290 points and grabbed 910 rebounds.
Landsberger then attended Allan Hancock College, where he was the California junior college player of the year, the University of Minnesota, and Arizona State University. At ASU, he set school records for most rebounds in a game and highest rebounds-per game average in a season. After college, he was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the second round of the 1977 NBA Draft. He appeared in 196 games for the Bulls from 1977 to 1980, averaging 7.4 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game. On January 28, 1979, Landsberger grabbed 29 rebounds in a game against the Denver Nuggets. At the time, this was the third-highest single-game rebounding total in Chicago Bulls history. That season, Landsberger ranked seventh in the league in total offensive rebounds, with 292.
On February 13, 1980, the Bulls traded Landsberger to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Oliver Mack and two second round draft choices. Landsberger remained in Los Angeles until 1983. Playing behind future hall-of-famers like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and Magic Johnson, he never averaged more than 5.7 points or 5.5 rebounds in a single season with the Lakers. However, he won NBA Championship rings as a reserve in 1980 and 1982.
Landsberger spent the 1983-84 NBA season with the Atlanta Hawks. He averaged 1.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 35 games. This was his last season in the NBA, and he ended his NBA career with 2,468 total points and 2,681 total rebounds. He played professionally in Europe until the 1990s. Among the highlights of his European career was a 34 rebound game while playing for Lotus Montecatini Terme in Lucca/Italy on November 11, 1990. That performance set a record for most rebounds in an Italian league game. Landsberger also set Greek league records for most rebounds in a game and highest rebounds-per-game average for a season.