Accompanied by Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) and Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood), former Los Angeles Lakers legend Michael Cooper was honored on the Assembly and Senate floors of the California State Capitol on Aug. 5
Cooper, 68, will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on October 13, in Springfield, MA. He spent his entire 12-year NBA career playing for the Lakers and helped the team win five NBA titles.
“What an honor to be at the State Capitol, honored by the Legislature, and have a chance to meet Gov. Gavin Newsom,” Cooper told California Black Media. “Chris (Holden) and I go way back to high school. For him to bring me up here and bestow this honor is gratifying.”
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Alongside his wife Wanda Cooper, “Coop” had a full day of activities in the capital city. After he was presented on both floors of the State Capitol, he took portrait shots and selfies with lawmakers.
Cooper played for Pasadena High School and the University of New Mexico in the 1970s.
Holden, 64, who played for Pasadena High and played basketball for San Diego State University, said Cooper had exceptional defensive skills.
“He played the game with heart, and he played it with intensity,” Holden said. “When you think of the fact that you can have a player make it to the Naismith Hall of Fame as a defensive specialist…that is special. He had to defend the greats of the game. They knew when he stepped on the court with him, they were in for a battle.”
After the Capitol honors, the Coopers attended a reception at the California State Museum hosted by Secretary of State Shirley Weber. There, Cooper met with youth from the San Diego Chapter of Jack and Jill of America. The organization nurtures Black American youth through community service, legislative advocacy, and philanthropy.
The reception was held on the first floor, where California State Hall of Fame inductees are on exhibit. Weber said that recognition should also include Cooper, who was born and raised in the state.
“I was looking around, and Chris (Holden) said, ‘he isn’t on the wall,’” Weber said. “It is not my responsibility, but I am going to work on that. We’re going to make sure California knows it has a person of honor and (Cooper) should be up on that wall.”
Cooper said he is still getting used to the fact that he will be among 450-plus inductees after a remarkable career on and off the basketball court. The 2024 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Massachusetts, where basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith in 1891.
“For a kid coming out of Pasadena, California, who had to fight and scratch just to be on the high school team, then finally my journey of going to the Lakers, and never been a starter or All-Star? For my footprint to be at the door of the Hall of Fame and it finally opens says a lot to me,” Cooper said. “It’s also a blessing. I’m still coming to grips with it. It’s a little bit overwhelming.”
At 6-foot-7, Cooper was chosen by the Lakers with the 60th pick in the 1978 NBA Draft. Primarily in a reserve role off the bench, he went on to make the NBA All-Defensive First Team five times in his career (1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988). Cooper managed to make three NBA All-Defensive Second Teams as well (1981,1983, 1986).
For the 1986-1987 season, he earned the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award as the top defender in the league.
In 1987, Cooper was presented with the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award with Rory Sparrow of the New York Knicks. The award, named after the NBA’s second commissioner, is handed out every season by the Professional Basketball Writers Association (PBWA) to a player, coach, or athletic trainer who provided outstanding service and dedication to the community.
“See that’s another thing about the Naismith Hall of Fame,” Cooper said. “It’s not all about being an NBA All-Star or anything. It’s about your contributions to the game of basketball. It’s about what you give back to the game that has given us so much.”
Post retirement in 1991, Cooper coached the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 2000, he earned the Coach of the Year honor and led the Sparks to back-to-back WNBA titles in 2001 and 2002. He is the only person in the world to win a championship as a player or coach in the NBA, WNBA, and NBA D-League (renamed the G-League).
Today, Cooper is an assistant coach for California State University Los Angeles’ Men’s Basketball Team. Jim Saia is the head coach for the Golden Eagles.
For up-and-coming basketball players, coaches, and trainers, Cooper has a message.
“Keep working hard because dreams do come true. The true blessing will be fulfilled,” Cooper said. “I can tell you those things happened to me. It’s been a great ride.”
