Liverpool – September 07, 2026 -- Liverpool Basketball has hired Roy Rogers, a coach with nearly two decades of NBA experience, as the club's first-ever head coach ahead of its debut season in Super League Basketball (SLB), owner Jason Dolan announced.
Rogers brings nearly 20 years of NBA coaching experience to the new club
Rogers most recently served on staff at the University of Memphis and spent four seasons (2021-25) with the Portland Trail Blazers, including a stint as the team's defensive coordinator. His NBA coaching résumé also includes the Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics. He began coaching in the NBA Development League in 2004.
He has worked alongside Hall of Fame coaches Doc Rivers and Mike D'Antoni, as well as Tyronn Lue, Lawrence Frank and Randy Wittman.
A first-round pick in the 1996 NBA Draft played four NBA seasons
Before coaching, Rogers was a first-round selection in the 1996 NBA Draft -- a class that included Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Ray Allen -- out of the University of Alabama. He played four NBA seasons with the Vancouver Grizzlies, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets, later continuing his career internationally, including a season with CSKA Moscow.
Paul Cantwell joins as assistant coach on the inaugural staff
Cantwell previously served as head coach of the Yorkshire Dragons in British Championship Basketball. Liverpool will make its home debut at the M&S Bank Arena on October 4 against Manchester.
"The chance to be the first head coach in Liverpool Basketball history -- to set the standard for everything that follows -- is the kind of opportunity a coach gets once in a career," Rogers said.