James Donald Rodgers (born March 12, 1943)[1] is an American former basketball coach and team executive.
[2] Rodgers was born and raised in Franklin Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.
After the team rebounded to a 52–30 record the following season, Rodgers was fired after a first-round playoff loss to the Knicks in five games.
He served as an assistant on staffs that won six NBA championships (1981, 1984, and 1986 with the Celtics, and 1996, 1997, and 1998 with the Chicago Bulls, where he reunited with Phil Jackson, who was the team's head coach).
As an assistant for Chicago, he helped Jackson coach championship-winning teams that featured Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.