Rodney Rogers

From Hoopedia

Rodney Ray Rogers (born June 20, 1971, in Durham, North Carolina) is a retired American basketball player who last played power forward for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers.

Rogers played college basketball at Wake Forest University from 1990 until 1993. He was a star there, winning Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year honors by averaging 21.2 points and 7.4 rebounds. His final college statistics were 19.3 points and 7.9 rebounds and vaulted him to the ninth selection of the 1993 NBA Draft for the Denver Nuggets.

Rogers played two years for Denver, spending his rookie year primarily as a bench player for a team which pulled off a famous upset as the first 8th ranked team to beat a first-seeded team in NBA Playoffs history, in this case the Seattle SuperSonics. Rogers did have one memorable game in his rookie year on February 8, 1994 against the Utah Jazz. Near the end of the game, Rogers hit three three-pointers in a span of nine seconds to bring the astonished Nuggets from a 94-86 deficit to a 95-94 lead. However, Utah's Jeff Malone spoiled Rogers's night by hitting a jumper with 12 seconds remaining to put the Jazz back on top for good.

Rogers became a starter his second season, in large part due to LaPhonso Ellis's frequent injuries. Rogers was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers on June 28, 1995 with the draft rights to guard Brent Barry, for the draft rights to forward Antonio McDyess and guard Randy Woods. He would spend four years with the Clippers, for whom he was a key player.

In 1999, it was clear that Rogers' role with the Clippers had shrunk and so he signed a contract with the Phoenix Suns on August 2, 1999. This would prove wise, as he averaged 13.8 points per game coming off the bench and won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2000. The Suns were also a better team, overall, than the Clippers, allowing Rodney to get a taste of playoff basketball. Sadly, the team lost in the playoffs to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers. However, he remained with them until February 20, 2002, when he was traded to the Boston Celtics for whom he became a reliable double-digit, mid-range jump shooting forward off the bench.

He would not stay in Boston long, however, as the New Jersey Nets signed Rogers as a free agent on August 14, 2002 to fill a gap at power forward. His first year with them, however, was disappointing, averaging only 7 points per game as a bench player. Perhaps the high point of his season was a playoff game against the Milwaukee Bucks on April 24, 2003, when he sank the game winning shot after missing two free throws just prior to the game-winning hoop. He got the ball on a tap from teammate Kenyon Martin, who rebounded Rogers' second free-throw over Bucks forwards Tim Thomas and Anthony Mason. Bucks' coach George Karl would later say Martin was guilty of "man-handling" Thomas, and that it was unfair that Rogers got another shot at winning the game. The Nets would win the series and go on to make the NBA Finals, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs. He would see more playing time the next year, mainly due to some frontcourt injuries, but the quality of his play had declined. He would sign with the New Orleans Hornets on August 3, 2004 but was injured for much of the early part of that season while eventually becoming a starter for the team. On February 24, 2005, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with injured forward Jamal Mashburn for also-injured forward Glenn Robinson. He was primarily used as a backup forward for the '76ers.

Rogers was a unique player throughout his twelve-year career. He is 6'7" (2.02m) and weighs 235 pounds, and, because of his bulk, has been able to play as a power forward. However, he has played both forward positions effectively. Rogers has also usually been a good three-point shooter, allowing for a taller player who might be a greater rebounding threat to attract the opposing team's larger power forward and creating many defensive mismatches. While his offense might be well-regarded, his defense was generally mediocre at best.

Rogers is the cousin of San Francisco 49ers linebacker Tully Banta-Cain.