On this day, former Boston Celtics head coach Jimmy Rodgers was fired in that role after dropping a first round matchup with the New York Knicks in the 1990 NBA Playoffs.
Rodgers joined the Celtics as an assistant under Bill Fitch in 1979, and stayed on with the organization after his departure in 1983, working under Celtics legend K.C. Jones, then replacing Jones as head coach upon his resignation in 1988.
Rodgers was dealt a rough hand in his first season with star forward Larry Bird out injured for much of the season.
While the first-round exit and poor records perhaps not up to par for the Celtics teams of old, the franchise inherited by Rodgers was heavily mortgaged in favor of an aging core that probably should have been broken up years earlier.
#86Celtics Jimmy Rodgers won 6 @NBA titles as asst. coach – ’81, ’84, ’86 w/ C’s & ’96-98 w/ @chicagobulls #Celtics pic.twitter.com/9spB4mg8K7
— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) April 9, 2016
Rodgers finished with a 94-70 regular season record, and went 2 and 6 in the postseason, good for .573 and .250 winning percentages, respectively.