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Michael Cooper

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This article is about the basketball player and coach. For other people with the same name, see Michael Cooper (disambiguation).

Michael Cooper
Cooper at Camp Lemonnier in 2023
Personal information
Born (1956-04-15) April 15, 1956 (age 68)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High schoolPasadena (Pasadena, California)
College
NBA draft1978: 3rd round, 60th overall pick
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career1978–1991
PositionShooting guard
Number21
Coaching career1994–present
Career history
As player:
1978–1990Los Angeles Lakers
1990–1991Virtus Roma
As coach:
1994–1996Los Angeles Lakers (assistant)
1999Los Angeles Sparks (assistant)
2000–2004Los Angeles Sparks
2004Denver Nuggets (assistant)
2004–2005Denver Nuggets (interim)
2005–2007Albuquerque Thunderbirds
2007–2009Los Angeles Sparks
2009–2013USC (women)
2014–2017Atlanta Dream
2019–2021Chadwick School
2021–2023Culver City High School
2023–Cal State L.A.
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Career statistics
Points7,729 (8.9 ppg)
Assists3,666 (4.2 apg)
Steals1,033 (1.2 spg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Basketball Hall of Fame as player

Michael Jerome Cooper (born April 15, 1956) is an American basketball coach and former player. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers during his entire career in the National Basketball Association, winning five NBA championships with the Lakers during their Showtime era. Regarded as one of the greatest defensive players of his generation, he was an eight-time selection to the NBA All-Defensive Team, including five times on the first team. He was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1987. In 2024, it was announced that Cooper would be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[1] Following his Hall of Fame announcement, it was announced on August 15, 2024 that Cooper would have his No. 21 retired by the Lakers on January 13, 2025.[2]

As a coach, Cooper led the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) to two championships and the Albuquerque Thunderbirds to one NBA G League title. He has also coached in the NBA, WNBA, and the NBA Development League.[3] He was the head coach for boys basketball at Culver City High School in California from 2021 to 2023. He then took an assistant coaching job for men's basketball at California State University, Los Angeles.

Early life

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Michael Jerome Cooper was born on April 15, 1956, in Los Angeles, California. When he was three years old, he cut one of his knees severely, requiring 100 stitches to close. At the time the doctor said that he would never be able to walk.[4] Cooper attended Pasadena High School, where he excelled in basketball. He graduated in 1974.

College career

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Cooper attended Pasadena City College before transferring to the University of New Mexico. He played for the New Mexico Lobos for two seasons, 1976–78,[5] and was named first team All-Western Athletic Conference. In Cooper's senior season, he was named a first-team All-American by the United States Basketball Writers Association.[6][7] The Lobos won the WAC title, with Cooper averaging 16.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game.

Professional career

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Los Angeles Lakers (1978–1990)

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Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the third round of the 1978 NBA draft with the 60th overall pick,[8] Cooper became an integral part of their Showtime teams of the 1980s with his defensive skills. In a twelve-year career, he was named to the NBA All Defensive Team eight times, including five first-team selections. Until 2024, Cooper and Norm Van Lier had the most defensive selections of any player to not be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He was named a finalist in 2022 and was selected for induction into the Hall of Fame in 2024.[9] He won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1987. He, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, was a member of five Lakers championship teams in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988.[10]

At 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), 174 lb (77 kg), the rail-thin Cooper known for his knee-high socks, played shooting guard, small forward, and point guard, although his defensive assignment was usually the other team's best shooter at the 2 or 3 position. Larry Bird has said that Cooper was the best defender he faced.[11] For his career, Cooper averaged 8.9 points, 4.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game. A popular player among Lakers fans, home crowds were known to chant, "Coooooooop" whenever he controlled the ball, and the Lakers sometimes ran an alley-oop play for him that was dubbed the "Coop-a-loop."[12] Leaving the team after the 1989–90 season, he was ranked among the club's all-time top 10 in three-point field goals (428), games played (873), total minutes played (23,635), steals (1033), blocked shots (523), assists (3,666), defensive rebounds (2,028), offensive rebounds (741), and free throw percentage (.833).

Pallacanestro Virtus Roma (1990–1991)

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Cooper then played for the 1990–91 season in Italy for Pallacanestro Virtus Roma in the Italian Serie A, averaging 15.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 1.8 assists, and 0.3 blocks per game.

Coaching career

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Los Angeles Lakers (1994–1997)

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Following Cooper's playing career, he served as Special Assistant to Lakers' general manager Jerry West for three years before joining the Lakers' coaching staff in March 1994 under Magic Johnson, then with Del Harris from 1994 to 1996.

Los Angeles Sparks (1999–2004)

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Cooper became an assistant coach of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks in 1999, and helped the team reach the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, with a record of 20–12.

He was named the Sparks' head coach in November 1999, and the Sparks' record quickly improved, as they finished 28–4 in their 2000 campaign. Cooper was named the WNBA Coach of the Year for his efforts. The Sparks followed with consecutive WNBA Championships in 2001 and 2002, but were denied a third straight WNBA title by losing to the Detroit Shock in 2003.

Denver Nuggets (2004–2005)

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After the Sacramento Monarchs ended the Sparks' run in the first round of the 2004 WNBA Playoffs, Cooper took a job as an assistant coach under Jeff Bzdelik with the Denver Nuggets. After 24 games, Bzedlik was fired, and Cooper was named the Nuggets' interim head coach.[13] He remained interim head coach until George Karl was brought in to coach the team about a month later and served as a scout for the Nuggets the remainder of the season.

Albuquerque Thunderbirds (2005–2007)

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Cooper was the head coach of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds for three years (2005–07). In 2007, he left the Thunderbirds after coaching them to the National Basketball Association D- League Championship in 2006.

Return to Sparks (2007–2009)

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Cooper then returned to coaching in the WNBA as head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks.

USC Trojans' women's basketball team (2009–2013)

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In May 2009, Cooper was named head coach of the University of Southern California's Women of Troy Basketball Team.[14] He quit in 2013 after USC went 11–20 and finished seventh in the Pac-12 Conference with a 7–11 record. He was 72–57 overall at USC.[15]

Atlanta Dream (2014–2017)

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In November 2013, Cooper was hired by the Atlanta Dream as head coach.[16] His contract was not renewed by Atlanta after an 11–22 season in 2017.

Chadwick (2019–2021)

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In 2018, Cooper signed on to coach 3's Company of the Big3 League.

In 2019, Cooper was named the boys varsity coach at Chadwick School in the Palos Verdes Peninsula of Los Angeles County.[17]

Culver City (2021–2023)

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Cooper became the head coach at Culver City High School on September 8, 2021.[18]

California State University, Los Angeles

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Cooper became an assistant head coach of men's basketball at Cal State, LA in 2023.[19]

Head coaching record

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NBA

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Denver 2004–05 14 4 10 .286 (interim) — — — — —
Career 14 4 10 .286 — — — —

WNBA

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Los Angeles 2000 32 28 4 .875 1st in Western 4 2 2 .500 Lost in Conference Finals
Los Angeles 2001 32 28 4 .875 1st in Western 7 6 1 .857 Won WNBA Championship
Los Angeles 2002 32 25 7 .781 1st in Western 6 6 0 1.000 Won WNBA Championship
Los Angeles 2003 34 24 10 .706 1st in Western 9 5 4 .556 Lost WNBA Finals
Los Angeles 2004 20 14 6 .700 (resigned) — — — — —
Los Angeles 2007 34 10 24 .294 6th in Western — — — — —
Los Angeles 2008 34 20 14 .588 3rd in Western 6 3 3 .500 Lost in Conference Finals
Los Angeles 2009 34 18 16 .529 3rd in Western 6 3 3 .500 Lost in Conference Finals
Atlanta 2014 34 19 15 .559 1st in Eastern 3 1 2 .333 Lost First Round
Atlanta 2015 34 15 19 .441 5th in Eastern — — — — —
Atlanta 2016 34 17 17 .500 4th in Eastern 2 1 1 .500 Lost Second Round
Atlanta 2017 34 12 22 .353 5th in Eastern — — — — —
Career 388 230 158 .593 43 27 16 .628

D-League

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Albuquerque 2005–06 48 26 22 .542 2nd 2 2 0 1.000 Won D-League Championship
Albuquerque 2006–07 50 24 26 .480 3rd in Western 1 0 1 .000 Lost in First Round
Career 98 50 48 .510 2 2 1 .667

College

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
USC Trojans (Pacific-10/Pac-12 Conference) (2009–2013)
2009–10 USC 19–12 12–6 3rd
2010–11 USC 24–13 10–8 T–4th WNIT Runner-Up
2011–12 USC 18–12 12–6 3rd
2012–13 USC 11–20 7–11 7th
USC: 72–57 41–31
Total: 72–57

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1978–79 L.A. Lakers 3 2.3 .500 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 2.0
1979–80† L.A. Lakers 82 24.1 .524 .250 .776 2.8 2.7 1.0 0.5 8.8
1980–81 L.A. Lakers 81 32.4 .491 .211 .785 4.1 4.1 1.6 1.0 9.4
1981–82† L.A. Lakers 76 14 28.9 .517 .118 .813 3.5 3.0 1.6 0.8 11.9
1982–83 L.A. Lakers 82 3 26.2 .535 .238 .785 3.3 3.8 1.4 0.6 7.8
1983–84 L.A. Lakers 82 9 29.1 .497 .314 .838 3.2 5.9 1.4 0.8 9.0
1984–85† L.A. Lakers 82 20 26.7 .465 .285 .865 3.1 5.2 1.1 0.6 8.6
1985–86 L.A. Lakers 82 15 27.7 .452 .387 .865 3.0 5.7 1.1 0.5 9.2
1986–87† L.A. Lakers 82 2 27.5 .438 .385 .851 3.1 4.5 1.0 0.5 10.5
1987–88† L.A. Lakers 61 8 29.4 .392 .320 .858 3.7 4.7 1.1 0.4 8.7
1988–89 L.A. Lakers 80 13 24.3 .431 .381 .871 2.4 3.9 0.9 0.4 7.3
1989–90 L.A. Lakers 80 10 23.1 .387 .318 .883 2.8 2.7 0.8 0.5 6.4
Career 873 94 27.1 .469 .340 .833 3.2 4.2 1.2 0.6 8.9

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1980† L.A. Lakers 16 29.0 .407 .000 .861 3.7 3.6 1.5 0.7 9.1
1981 L.A. Lakers 3 34.0 .550 .000 .714 3.3 2.3 2.0 0.0 10.7
1982† L.A. Lakers 14 27.4 .565 .500 .735 4.4 4.4 1.7 0.8 11.9
1983 L.A. Lakers 15 30.2 .465 .143 .829 3.9 2.9 1.7 0.4 9.4
1984 L.A. Lakers 21 34.4 .461 .333 .806 3.9 5.7 1.1 1.0 11.3
1985† L.A. Lakers 19 26.4 .563 .308 .923 4.0 4.9 1.1 0.5 10.4
1986 L.A. Lakers 14 30.1 .470 .463 .818 3.3 4.9 1.3 0.3 9.7
1987† L.A. Lakers 18 29.0 .484 .486 .852 3.3 5.0 1.4 0.8 13.0
1988† L.A. Lakers 24 24.5 .412 .403 .741 2.4 2.8 0.8 0.4 6.4
1989 L.A. Lakers 15 27.6 .416 .382 .833 2.7 4.7 0.6 0.5 7.7
1990 L.A. Lakers 9 19.2 .286 .250 2.7 2.8 0.8 0.4 2.6
Career 168 4 28.2 .468 .392 .825 3.4 4.2 1.2 0.6 9.4

Personal life

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In July 2014, Cooper was diagnosed with early-stage tongue cancer. He had surgery at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, and was able to recuperate.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announces 13 inductees for Class of 2024". NBA.com. April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  2. ^ https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2024/08/lakers-to-retire-michael-coopers-no-21-in-january.html [bare URL]
  3. ^ "Coach Bio". NBA.com/coachfile. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  4. ^ Hurt, Bob (May 13, 1984). "Injuries strengthen Lakers' bench". The Arizona Republic. p. Sports 1.
  5. ^ Michael Cooper – Pasadena City Archived June 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine pasadena.edu, July 12, 2008.
  6. ^ "Lobo's Cooper picked to writer' All-American team". Tucson Citizen. March 7, 1978. p. 2E. Retrieved August 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Johnson, Gary K. (October 2005). "NCAA Basketball's Finest - All-Americans" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 198–199. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  8. ^ 1978 Draft Archived 2008-06-26 at the Wayback Machine basketball-reference.com, Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  9. ^ "Lindsay Whalen is one of 11 finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on February 21, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  10. ^ "Thunderbirds Head Coach". NBA.com/dleague. Retrieved July 12, 2008. [dead link]
  11. ^ (February 6, 2002)Larry Bird Chat Archived February 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine accessed October 5, 2008.
  12. ^ Eded, Gordon (May 7, 1987). "MICHAEL COOPER: A LAKER DEEP THREAT : Three-Pointer Is Becoming an Arc of Triumph". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016.
  13. ^ "Nuggets off to 13–15 start". ESPN. Associated Press. December 29, 2004. Archived from the original on September 22, 2005. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  14. ^ "Cooper Hired". May 2009. Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2009.
  15. ^ "Michael Cooper quits at USC". ESPN. Associated Press. March 13, 2013. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  16. ^ "Atlanta Dream Name Michael Cooper Head Coach". November 21, 2013. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  17. ^ https://m.facebook.com/ChadwickSchool/posts/10156166592162522 Archived February 24, 2021, at the Wayback Machine [user-generated source]
  18. ^ @BBall_CulverHS (September 9, 2021). "Welcome our new Head Coach Michael Cooper. We are excited to have him! Looking forward to a great season" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ^ "Pasadena will retire Michael Cooper's jersey following showdown with Arcadia for league title". San Gabriel Valley Tribune. January 29, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
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