Leon Rodgers (born June 19, 1980) is an American-born Venezuelan retired

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. Standing at , he played as

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular c ...

. Over his career, Rodgers played in the Netherlands, China, France, Germany, Puerto Rico, Philippines and Colombia. He was nicknamed "La Moto" during his time in Venezuela.

Professional career

Rodgers started his professional career in 2002 with

Brandt Hagen Brandt Hagen Hagen is a professional basketball club from Hagen in Germany. History It is the successor of Brandt Hagen, a professional club that had considerable success in the German Basketball Bundesliga in the 90s. In April 1990, the club was ...

. He played in the Netherlands for

EiffelTowers Nijmegen EiffelTowers Nijmegen was a Dutch basketball club based in Nijmegen. The club played in the top-tier Eredivisie during the period 2000–2005 and won one championship in 2003. In 2005, the club merged with EBBC Den Bosch to form EiffelTowers Den Bo ...

and

EiffelTowers Den Bosch Heroes Den Bosch is a Dutch professional basketball club based in 's-Hertogenbosch. The club plays in the BNXT League since 2021 and in the top basketball division in the Netherlands since 1972. Founded as EBBC in 1951, the club had several spons ...

from 2004 to 2007. He averaged 21.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists over his three seasons in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

. During his time in the Netherlands, he won the

Most Valuable Player award In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the

Dutch Basketball League The Dutch Basketball League (DBL), formerly the Eredivisie, was the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands, run by the Federatie Eredivisie Basketball (FEB). Since 2021, the league has been replaced by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT L ...

three times in a row, tying the record of Kees Akerboom.

Personal

Rodgers became a naturalised Venzuelan citizen in 2016.

Honours

Club

*2×

: ( 2006,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

)

Artland Dragons QTSV Quakenbrück, representing its professional team as Artland Dragons, is a basketball club based in Quakenbrück, Germany. Their home arena was the Artland Arena, which has room for 3,000 spectators. From 2003 till 2015 the club played in the B ...

BBL-Pokal Basketball Bundesliga-Pokal, commonly known as the BBL-Pokal, is the annual national basketball cup competition in Germany. Since 2009, the title has been awarded to the winner of a tournament competition between top clubs of each Basketball Bund ...

: (2008)

Marinos de Anzoátegui Marinos B.B.C., also referred to as Marinos de Anzoátegui, is a professional basketball club based in the port city of Puerto la Cruz, located in the Venezuelan Anzoátegui State. The team currently plays in Venezuela's Liga Profesional de Balonc ...

Liga Profesional de Baloncesto The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto i ...

: (2012)

Individual

*3× Eredivisie Most Valuable Player (

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

, 2006,

) *3× First-team All-Eredivisie: (

, 2006,

) *2× Eredivisie All-Star: (

) * Eredivisie Statistical Player of the Year: (

)

References