At 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) and 220 pounds (100 kg), Ladner was one of the more notorious enforcers of the ABA, protecting Dan Issel of the Kentucky Colonels and Julius Erving of the New York Nets.

Ladner regularly faced perhaps the fiercest player in the ABA, the Pittsburgh Condors' John Brisker, once entering the Condors' locker room and yelling, "Hey, John, you wanna fight right now or wait for the game?"

On January 24, 1971, he scored a career-high total of 34 points in a Memphis win over the Miami Floridians.

Ladner was killed at the age of 26 in the June 24, 1975 crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 66.

Semi-Pro, a basketball comedy set in the 1970s starring Will Ferrell, spoofs Ladner's Reynolds persona in its trailer.