Michael Cooper

Michael Jerome Cooper (born April 15, 1956) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the boys varsity coach at Chadwick School. Cooper's previous coaching jobs include leading 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. A former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Cooper won five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers during their Showtime era. He has also coached in the NBA, WNBA, and the NBA Development League.[1]

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

Michael Cooper
Cooper in 2011 as USC head coach
Chadwick School
PositionHead coach
Personal information
Born (1956-04-15) April 15, 1956
Los Angeles, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High schoolPasadena (Pasadena, California)
College
NBA draft1978 / Round: 3 / Pick: 60th overall
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–presentChadwick School
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 Basketball-Reference.com

Early life and college

Cooper was born in Los Angeles. 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.[2]

He attended Pasadena High School, graduating in 1974, then Pasadena City College before transferring to the University of New Mexico. He played for the New Mexico Lobos for two seasons, 1976–78,[3] and was named first team All-Western Athletic Conference. In his senior season the Lobos won the WAC title, with Cooper averaging 16.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.

Professional career

Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the third round of the 1978 NBA draft with the 60th overall pick,[4] 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 eight NBA All Defensive Teams, including five First Teams. 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.[5]

At 6 ft 5 in (1.96 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.[6] 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."[7] 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).

He 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

Following his 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 1994–97. He 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.

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.[8] 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.

Cooper was the head coach of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds for two years (2006–07). In 2007, he left the Thunderbirds after coaching them to the National Basketball Association D- League Championship in 2006. Cooper then returned to coaching in the WNBA as head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks.

In May 2009, Cooper was named head coach of the University of Southern California's Women of Troy Basketball Team.[9] 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.[10]

In November 2013, Cooper was hired by the Atlanta Dream as head coach.[11]

In July 2014, Cooper was diagnosed with early-stage tongue cancer. He had surgery at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, and a full recovery was expected. His contract was not renewed by Atlanta after an 11–22 season in 2017.

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.[12]

Head coaching record

NBA
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 14410.286(interim)———— —
Career 14410.286————

WNBA
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 32284.8751st in Western422.500 Lost in Conference Finals
Los Angeles 2001 32284.8751st in Western761.857 Won WNBA Championship
Los Angeles 2002 32257.7811st in Western6601.000 Won WNBA Championship
Los Angeles 2003 342410.7061st in Western954.556 Lost WNBA Finals
Los Angeles 2004 20146.700(resigned)———— —
Los Angeles 2007 341024.2946th in Western———— —
Los Angeles 2008 342014.5883rd in Western633.500 Lost in Conference Finals
Los Angeles 2009 341816.5293rd in Western633.500 Lost in Conference Finals
Atlanta 2014 341915.5591st in Eastern312.333 Lost First Round
Atlanta 2015 341519.4415th in Eastern———— —
Atlanta 2016 341717.5004th in Eastern211.500 Lost Second Round
Atlanta 2017 341222.3535th in Eastern———— —
Career 388230158.593432716.628

D-League
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 482622.5422nd2201.000 Won D-League Championship
Albuquerque 2006–07 502426.4803rd in Western101.000 Lost in First Round
Career 985048.510221.667

College
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
USC Trojans (Pacific-10/Pac-12 Conference) (2009–2013)
2009–10 USC 19–1212–63rd
2010–11 USC 24–1310–8T–4thWNIT Runner-Up
2011–12 USC 18–1212–63rd
2012–13 USC 11–207–117th
USC: 72–5741–31
Total:72–57

NBA career statistics
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
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1978–79 L.A. Lakers 32.3.5000.00.00.30.02.0
1979–80† L.A. Lakers 8224.1.524.250.7762.82.71.00.58.8
1980–81 L.A. Lakers 8132.4.491.211.7854.14.11.61.09.4
1981–82† L.A. Lakers 761428.9.517.118.8133.53.01.60.811.9
1982–83 L.A. Lakers 82326.2.535.238.7853.33.81.40.67.8
1983–84 L.A. Lakers 82929.1.497.314.8383.25.91.40.89.0
1984–85† L.A. Lakers 822026.7.465.285.8653.15.21.10.68.6
1985–86 L.A. Lakers 821527.7.452.387.8653.05.71.10.59.2
1986–87† L.A. Lakers 82227.5.438.385.8513.14.51.00.510.5
1987–88† L.A. Lakers 61829.4.392.320.8583.74.71.10.48.7
1988–89 L.A. Lakers 801324.3.431.381.8712.43.90.90.47.3
1989–90 L.A. Lakers 801023.1.387.318.8832.82.70.80.56.4
Career 8739427.1.469.340.8333.24.21.20.68.9

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1980† L.A. Lakers 1629.0.407.000.8613.73.61.50.79.1
1981 L.A. Lakers 334.0.550.000.7143.32.32.00.010.7
1982† L.A. Lakers 1427.4.565.500.7354.44.41.70.811.9
1983 L.A. Lakers 1530.2.465.143.8293.92.91.70.49.4
1984 L.A. Lakers 2134.4.461.333.8063.95.71.11.011.3
1985† L.A. Lakers 1926.4.563.308.9234.04.91.10.510.4
1986 L.A. Lakers 1430.1.470.463.8183.34.91.30.39.7
1987† L.A. Lakers 1829.0.484.486.8523.35.01.40.813.0
1988† L.A. Lakers 2424.5.412.403.7412.42.80.80.46.4
1989 L.A. Lakers 1527.6.416.382.8332.74.70.60.57.7
1990 L.A. Lakers 919.2.286.2502.72.80.80.42.6
Career 168428.2.468.392.8253.44.21.20.69.4
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See also

References
  1. "Coach Bio". NBA.com/coachfile. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  2. Hurt, Bob (May 13, 1984). "Injuries strengthen Lakers' bench". The Arizona Republic. p. Sports 1.
  3. Michael Cooper - Pasadena City Archived June 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine pasadena.edu, July 12, 2008.
  4. 1978 Draft Archived 2008-06-26 at the Wayback Machine basketball-reference.com, Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  5. "Thunderbirds Head Coach". NBA.com/dleague. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  6. (February 6, 2002)Larry Bird Chat accessed October 5, 2008.
  7. 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.
  8. "Nuggets off to 13-15 start". ESPN. Associated Press. December 29, 2004. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  10. "Michael Cooper quits at USC". ESPN. Associated Press. March 13, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  11. "Atlanta Dream Name Michael Cooper Head Coach". November 21, 2013. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  12. https://m.facebook.com/ChadwickSchool/posts/10156166592162522
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