Friends, family, former teammates and coaches are mourning former NBA player and local basketball star Rasual Butler after he and his wife, R&B singer Leah Labelle, were killed in a single-vehicle rollover crash in Los Angeles Wednesday.
The Range Rover crashed around 2:30 a.m. in the Studio City area and left a swath of damage along a major thoroughfare.
Los Angeles police said in a statement that Butler was speeding before his vehicle jumped a curb, hit three parking meters and a concrete wall and then flipped over twice. The vehicle came to rest inside a shopping mall parking lot.
Butler, 38, and Leah LaBelle Vladowski, 31, were pronounced dead at the scene, said Ed Winter, assistant chief investigator with the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. Autopsies were pending.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Butler was a standout player at both Roman Catholic High School and La Salle University before being drafted into the NBA. During his collegiate career with the La Salle Explorers from 1998 to 2002, Butler scored 2,125 points, fourth in school history, and was a two-time First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection. He averaged 22.1 points per game as a junior to tie for the league lead in scoring and was named to the A-10’s All-Tournament team as a senior, helping La Salle defeat top-seeded Temple in the quarterfinals. He was inducted into the La Salle Hall of Athletes in 2008.
Butler was drafted in the second round of the 2002 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat. He spent 14 years in the NBA with eight different teams and averaged 7.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
Butler’s wife, Leah LaBelle, was an R&B singer who finished 12th in the third season of “American Idol” in 2004.
"This is a real tragedy to the La Salle community and to all who knew Rasual," La Salle Director of Athletics Bill Bradshaw said. "He was a terrific basketball player, a great teammate and a wonderful person. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and families of Rasual and his wife, Leah."
Both former and current La Salle head coaches Speedy Morris and Dr. John Giannini also spoke on Butler’s death.
"Rasual was a good kid and I enjoyed coaching him,” Morris said. “His work ethic was very good and he just got better and better. My thoughts and prayers are with his grandfather and family. He left us too soon."
“Our hearts go out to his daughter, Raven, and mom, Cheryl,” Dr. Giannini said. “Within our program we will be here to support Donnie Carr, his teammate and lifelong friend. I know these things with certainty: Rasual deeply loved his family, he was proud of La Salle and he had an enormous will and work ethic that propelled him to his dream of a long, successful NBA career. Our staff and I admired and respected him in many ways. He will forever be a La Salle treasure and all-time great."
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney also shared his condolences on Twitter.
