It is fair to say that Rodney Rogers was a good, not a great, NBA player.
For nine seconds during a long-ago Jazz-Nuggets game, however, he was great. He was so great that those nine seconds will remain part of NBA folklore as long as there is an NBA. On Feb. 8, 1994, Utah owned a 94-86 lead over Denver with half-a-minute remaining.
Jazz broadcaster Rod Hundley had already put this win in his old refrigerator, and many in the McNichols Arena crowd were headed to the exits, out the doors and into the cold Mile High air.
Then Rogers played a nine-second masterpiece.
Taking a kick-out pass from point guard Robert Pack, he nailed a straight-away three-pointer. After Pack stole the inbounds pass, he fired to Rogers, who hit another three-pointer from the top of the key.
The fans who were leaving stopped and turned around.
The Jazz tried inbounding again, but Pack stepped between a virtual handoff from Karl Malone to John Stockton and flipped the ball into the air before falling out of bounds.
Almost magnetically, it went to Rogers in front of the Nuggets' bench. He shot again and, of course, scored.
With plenty of help from Pack, Rogers had scored nine points in nine seconds and given the Nuggets a 95-94 lead.
Even though the Jazz's Jeff Malone quieted the frenzied celebration with a game-winning jump shot, Rogers had his moment to remember.
Today, it is our time to remember Rogers. Last week, Rogers was paralyzed from the shoulders down after an ATV accident in rural North Carolina. He has been transferred to a rehab facility in Atlanta.
Only 37, Rogers retired from the NBA after the 2004-05 season, when he began working for the Durham (N.C.) Public Works Department as a heavy equipment operator. He was recently promoted. By all accounts, Rogers didn't need the money. His co-workers, apparently, didn't know that he was well off financially.
For his own reasons, Rogers kept working, remained productive, coached a local kids' football team, aided those who lived in a public housing complex and continued contributing to the general well-being of his hometown.
In its story about Rogers' accident, the Durham News & Observer called him an "ambassador" for the city.
Let's all pray that, one day soon, he can walk its streets again.
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* STEVE
LUHM is The Tribune's national NBA writer and can be reached at luhm@sltrib.
com.
