Rodney Rogers obit

 

Ex-Wake Forest, NBA player Rodney Rogers dies at 54

He was not on the list.

Former Wake Forest star and 12-year NBA player Rodney Rogers has died. He was 54.

The school announced Saturday that Rogers had died on Friday. Rogers -- the No. 9 NBA draft pick in 1993 -- had been paralyzed from the shoulders down since a dirt bike accident in November 2008. Rogers died of natural causes linked to his spinal cord injury, according to a statement from the National Basketball Players Association on behalf of Rogers' family.

"The last 17 years have been both challenging and profoundly blessed," the NBPA statement said. "Through every moment, Rodney remained a light -- positive, motivated, and full of the quiet strength that inspired everyone around him."

Rogers was the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year in 1991 and Player of the Year in 1993 whose No. 54 jersey was retired by the Demon Deacons. The burly 6-foot-7 forward with powerful athleticism earned the "Durham Bull" nickname during his prep career, then went on to score nearly 9,500 points in the NBA while being named league Sixth Man of the Year in 2000.

Rogers' injury led to the establishment of a foundation bearing his name, with Rogers encouraging people with spinal cord injuries while promoting resilience and personal growth in the face of those challenges. Wake Forest honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022 along with an honorary degree.

"Rodney is the strongest person I have ever met -- physically and mentally -- and his resilience was evident in the fight he showed every single day," Demon Deacons great and former teammate Randolph Childress said in a statement released by the school. "I've said this before and I still mean it today: he was the best athlete ever to walk onto Wake Forest's campus. He meant so much to so many people, and I feel profoundly blessed to have been with him yesterday."

Rogers played three years at Wake Forest, averaging 21.2 points in the 1992-93 season that saw Wake Forest reach the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16, before entering the NBA draft as a junior. He started his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets and went on to play with the LA Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets and Philadelphia 76ers.

"It's easy to focus on his extraordinary talent, but what stood out to everyone who knew him was that he was every bit as remarkable as a human being," said Dave Odom, Rogers' coach at Wake Forest. "He loved his teammates, he loved his family, he loved Wake Forest and he loved the game of basketball. He loved playing for Wake Forest.

"Every time we visited him, I walked away reminding myself never to complain -- because he never did. He faced life exactly as it came and made the very best of every moment. He was a joy to watch as a basketball player, but he was an even greater man. He shared his strength, his spirit and his life with everyone around him."

According to the NBPA statement, Rogers is survived by wife Faye; daughters Roddreka and Rydeiah; sons Rodney II and Devonte; his mother, Estelle Spencer; and Eric Hipolito, embraced as a son by Rogers.

His oldest brother Stacy, who attended the Eastern N.C. School for the Deaf in Wilson and the N.C. School for the Deaf in Morganton, won a gold medal in basketball at the 1981 XIV Deaflympics (aka "World Games for the Deaf" and "World Deaf Olympics") in Cologne, Germany. After that he worked for the Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham.

Rogers's college jersey #54 was retired in February 1996 by the Demon Deacons.

Rogers was drafted with the 9th pick by the Denver Nuggets in the 1993 NBA draft and spent his rookie year coming off the bench for a team which was the first 8th-seeded team in NBA playoffs history to beat a first-seeded team, the Seattle SuperSonics. Rogers had one significant game in his rookie year, against the Utah Jazz on February 8, 1994. Near the end of the game, Rogers hit three 3-pointers in a span of nine seconds to bring the Nuggets from a 94–86 deficit to a 95–94 lead. However, Jeff Malone hit a jumper with 12 seconds remaining to give the Jazz the 96–95 win.

Rogers became a starter his second season, in large part due to frequent injuries suffered by LaPhonso Ellis. On March 10, 1995, Rogers grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds, scored 19 points, and recorded 8 assists during a 99–88 win over the Detroit Pistons. On June 28, Rogers was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, with draft rights to guard Brent Barry, for the draft rights to forward Antonio McDyess and guard Randy Woods. He spent four years with the Clippers.

Rogers signed with the Phoenix Suns in 1999. 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 entered the playoffs that year, but lost to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers. Rogers remained with the Suns until February 2002, when he was traded to the Boston Celtics alongside Tony Delk for Milt Palacio, Randy Brown, Joe Johnson and a 2002 first-round draft pick.

Rogers signed with the New Jersey Nets as a free agent on August 14, 2002. During his first year with the Nets he averaged 7 points per game coming off the bench. The high point of his season was during a playoff game against the Milwaukee Bucks on April 24, 2003. After missing two free throws, Rogers came back on the next possession to hit the game-winning shot. The Nets won that series and went on to make the NBA Finals, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs. Rogers saw more playing time the next year, mainly due to some frontcourt injuries.

He signed with the New Orleans Hornets on August 3, 2004. He was injured for much of the early part of that season, but eventually became a team starter. On February 24, 2005, Rogers 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.