Tag: Michael Cooper

Bob Ryan is happy Los Angeles Lakers legend is headed to the Hall of Fame

Boston’s greatness can’t be appreciated without him!

While he may be an all-time great of the Boston Celtics‘ oldest and greatest rivals, Los Angeles Lakers legend Michael Cooper was a critical part of the Celtics’ battles with Los Angeles in the 1980s. And Boston’s greatness can’t be appreciated without him!

So it ought to come as no surprise that Celtics beat writer emeritus Bob Ryan of the CLNS Media “Bob Ryan, Jeff Goodman, and Gary Tanguay” podcast was happy to see Cooper finally get the nod for the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame for this year’s induction class.

Cooper, the host of his own CLNS Media pod, was the topic of a recent clip on the “CLNS Media History and Storytellers” YouTube channel. Check it out below!

If you enjoy this pod, check out the “How Bout Them Celtics,” “First to the Floor,” and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Michael Cooper on finding out he was voted into Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

When Michael Cooper first found out he had been voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, he thought it was a joke.

Michael Cooper was something of an unsung hero for the Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s. While he never made an All-Star game, he was a multifaceted role player who was integral to their five championship teams.

He was a great 3-point shooter (in fact, he was one of the NBA’s first real 3-point threats), a good transition finisher and a reliable backup point guard behind Magic Johnson. His greatest strength was defense. He won the 1987 Defensive Player of the Year award, and Boston Celtics great Larry Bird said Cooper guarded him as well as or better than anyone else did.

Days ago, Cooper was voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame after being nominated multiple times. On his “Showtime with Coop” podcast, he admitted when he first heard the news, he thought it was a joke (h/t Lakers Nation).

“I’m laying in the bed and I knew the call was coming that day and at 9:08, don’t forget that 9:08, I get a call and it’s Jerry Colangelo. And he’s saying they’re talking and you know I had heard that talk two other times before and they go ‘you know Coop, you’re a Hall of Famer, but you didn’t get in this time.’ And finally I just kinda like went numb you know because they were talking, but I couldn’t quite hear what they were talking about, my wife was sitting next to me and they said, ‘Coop you got in.’

“So I’m sitting there and I’m just kind of like looking and waiting for them to say you didn’t get in and my wife said ‘Babe, you got in.’ I said what? She said, ‘They said you got in’ and I let out this yell, man. And then when I got my senses back I said, ‘Is this an April Fool’s joke?’ And they were kind of like ‘No, Coop, you really got in, congratulations!’ I was like you know this is very, very cruel, because everybody wants to get into the Hall of Fame. Coming with that joke on April Fool’s, but you know what, it turned out to be true. It was last Monday, here we are this Monday, April 9 I believe we’re in today, and this was April 1 and it was like a whirlwind.

“I mean once they said that then I get all these phone calls about what you got to do. Final Four is in Phoenix, I catch a plane on Wednesday or Thursday, I’m in Phoenix and then everything just starts happening. So it’s been a real wonderful, chaotic, enjoyable, hectic 72 hours. But you know what, I am so, so happy. You know I never as a young man growing up here, and you know my story from beginning to end, never thought that my footsteps would be at the door and I would actually be knocking, and it’s official but it’s not official, and be knocking and that door opens and say Coop come on in. And with the greatest players that’s ever played this basketball game, guys I grew up (watching). Walt Bellamy, Connie Hawkins, John Havlicek, players of that magnitude for me, just to name those few and here I am gonna be immortalized with the best. I am really, really grateful. I feel very, very blessed.”

What probably finally tipped the scales in Cooper’s favor was his success after his playing career ended in 1990. He coached the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks to back-to-back titles in the early 2000s, then guided the G League’s Albuquerque Thunderbirds to a league title in 2006.

More recently, he had been the head coach for the University of Southern California women’s basketball team and 3’s Company of the Big3 League, as well as Chadwick School and Culver City High School in the greater Los Angeles area.

Michael Cooper has been voted into Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Michael Cooper, an underrated stalwart on the Lakers’ dynastic Showtime teams, is going into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

During the 1980s, the Los Angeles Lakers were filled to the brim with big-time stars. Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar received much of the credit, but they couldn’t have been as successful as they were without Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon, Bob McAdoo, James Worthy or Byron Scott, to name a few.

Michael Cooper never made an All-Star game, but he was arguably as integral to those Showtime Lakers as anyone not named Johnson or Abdul-Jabbar. He played several positions and roles in 12 seasons with L.A., and he was one of the greatest defenders ever, not to mention an excellent 3-point shooter and a very serviceable facilitator.

Since retiring from the NBA in 1990, Cooper has been a head coach at several levels for multiple teams. He has been nominated for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame multiple times, and on Thursday, he was finally voted in.

His Showtime brothers took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to congratulate him.

Cooper was on all five NBA championship teams the Lakers boasted during the Showtime era. Since then, he has won titles as a coach with the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and the G League’s Albuquerque Thunderbirds.

Which Lakers have participated in the NBA’s 3-Point Contest?

A look back at the Lakers players who competed in the NBA’s Three-Point Contest during All-Star Saturday.

On Saturday at NBA All-Star weekend, Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks won his second straight 3-point contest. It was definitely “Dame Time” in Indianapolis. He hit his final attempt to edge Trae Young and Karl-Anthony Towns in the final round.

The contest was started during the 1985-86 season, six years after the 3-point shot made its way into the league. Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics won the first three contests. Several years later, the Chicago Bulls’ Craig Hodges became the only other player to win the competition three straight times.

While the Los Angeles Lakers have never been known as an elite 3-point shooting team despite their illustrious history, they have had three participants in the 3-point contest over the years.

Michael Cooper, Jerry West are finalists for Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Two important and popular members of the Lakers from back in the day are finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In the 1980s, Michael Cooper was one of the most popular and important members of the dynastic Los Angeles Lakers. He never made an All-Star team, but he made eight All-Defensive teams and was named the Defensive Player of the Year during the 1986-87 season.

Cooper’s ability to not only defend but also handle the basketball, facilitate and hit 3-pointers helped those showtime Lakers win five NBA championships.

For most of that era, their general manager was Jerry West, a legendary player for them during the 1960s and early 1970s. He made some deft moves as an executive that not only turned Showtime into a dynasty but also set the foundation for the Kobe Bryant-fueled dynasty in the 2000s.

Cooper has been named a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player, while West is a finalist as an executive.

After his playing career ended in 1990, Cooper went on to become a coach. He coached the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks to back-to-back titles in the early 2000s and has had successful stints in the G League and at the University of Southern California.

West left the Lakers in 2000, and he went on to work in the front offices of the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors while having plenty of success. He is an executive board member and consultant for the Los Angeles Clippers.

West, of course, is already in the Hall of Fame as a player.

Michael Cooper criticizes LeBron James for eating on the bench during a game

Michael Cooper took LeBron James to task for something some would argue doesn’t matter a whole lot when it comes to the Lakers’ success.

LeBron James seems to have a quiet confidence about the upcoming NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers. Although he has been playing coy, he seems to love the depth, talent and skill around him. He hasn’t had such a rich cast to depend on in quite some time.

As he usually does, he has been taking it easy in the preseason. He has played in only two of the Lakers’ five preseason games so far. After playing 18 minutes in the first half on Friday against the Golden State Warriors, he was seen wearing sweats and eating on the bench.

Former Laker Michael Cooper took the all-time leading scorer to task, feeling he needs to “have respect for the game.”

Given how polarizing James is, his fans likely will not care that he ate what appeared to be his dinner on the bench during a game, while his haters will claim it’s another example of him supposedly putting himself first ahead of the team.

Perhaps this was nothing more than a “get off my lawn” moment from one of the most integral members of the Showtime Lakers and a man who arguably deserves to be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Unsung Lakers heroes of the past: Michael Cooper

A look back at Michael Cooper, who overcame lots of adversity to become perhaps the most valuable non-star on the Showtime Lakers.

In this ongoing series, we will take a trip to yesteryear to highlight some Los Angeles Lakers players whom some fans may have forgotten. These players didn’t get the billing that some others enjoyed, but they were very instrumental to the Lakers’ success.

Just about every true Lakers fan knows who Michael Cooper was and some of the value he provided to the team throughout the 1980s. However, some may not know the great obstacles he had to overcome to become one of its most important role players of the Showtime era.

A look at his bio reveals a true study of toughness and perseverance.

Robert Horry: The Lakers should retire Michael Cooper’s jersey

Former Laker Robert Horry advocated for Michael Cooper’s jersey to be retired by the franchise since he was a key part of the Showtime era.

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The Los Angeles Lakers have always treated their past stars very well and given them their flowers. They retired Shaquille O’Neal’s jersey in 2013, even though he left the team in 2004 on bad terms and regularly took shots at it and Kobe Bryant afterward.

Earlier this year, they raised Pau Gasol’s No. 16 to the wall of Crypto.com Arena once he was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Recently, owner Jeanie Buss said there is no doubt the organization will retire LeBron James’ jersey once he retires and gets inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Former Lakers role player and clutch shooter extraordinaire Robert Horry said if the franchise retires James’ jersey, it should do the same for Michael Cooper, who was a big part of its Showtime squads of the 1980s.

Via Fadeaway World:

“I base everything off Michael Cooper. You know, it is just so hard for me when you retire a guy’s number and you don’t retire Michael Cooper’s number. And it is just, to me, it don’t … nobody should go before him. You know, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, help win championships. He always guarded the people that Magic (Johnson) couldn’t.”

“It’s just so many things that, you know, and that goes to show you have people in the league and NBA and across. They don’t appreciate defense unless you’re Ben Wallace or Dennis Rodman. And I just think that if you retire LeBron’s jersey, you gotta retire Michael Cooper’s ‘cause he’s just a Laker legend to me.”

Traditionally, the Lakers have retired a player’s number if he reaches the Hall of Fame and played at an All-Star level while with them. Cooper may not have been an All-Star, but he was a multi-faceted role player throughout the 1980s. He played several positions, including backup point guard, was an exciting finisher at the rim, an outstanding 3-point shooter and one of the NBA’s best defensive players.

For his accomplishments in the NBA and contributions elsewhere, including as the head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, whom he led to back-to-back championships, Cooper has been nominated for the Hall of Fame multiple times. If he ever gets the nod to be inducted, perhaps his No. 21 jersey will be immortalized at Crypto.com Arena.

Michael Cooper on the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers’ offseasons

Which club will get their first and retake the bragging rights for the most titles in NBA history? Could we see it happen for one of the two teams this season?

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Curious about how the NBA’s two biggest, oldest rivals did this offseason? The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers were recently the subject of a deep dive into how the two old foes fared in their respective off-seasons by someone who knows the two teams as well as anyone.

Los Angeles legend Michael Cooper sat down with CLNS Media head honcho Nick Gelso, and the pair graded their performance, giving you an inside look at the team’s future prospects as each remains in the hunt to win a league-record 18th banner. Which club will get their first and retake the bragging rights for the most titles in NBA history? Could we see it happen for one of the two teams this season?

Check out the clip embedded below for an honest assessment of where each team is at heading into an important campaign for both ball clubs.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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The five greatest draft steals in Lakers history

These five players were the greatest draft steals the Lakers ever came away with.

With the 2023 NBA draft now in the rearview mirror, the Los Angeles Lakers are hoping they have come away with a diamond in the rough.

They took Indiana University Jalen Hood-Schifino with the No. 17 pick. Team executive Rob Pelinka described him as a lottery-level talent. They selected forward Maxwell Lewis at No. 40. He fell into their laps after being expected to perhaps go in the first round.

It had fans wondering if Lewis could be the latest draft steal for the Purple and Gold.

The team has certainly had its share of draft steals either in the second round or late in the first round, especially in recent years. These are the five we think top that list.