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]
Cooper in 2011 as USC head coach | |
Chadwick School | |
---|---|
Position | Head coach |
Personal information | |
Born | Los Angeles, California | April 15, 1956
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
Listed weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Pasadena (Pasadena, California) |
College |
|
NBA draft | 1978 / Round: 3 / Pick: 60th overall |
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers | |
Playing career | 1978–1991 |
Position | Shooting guard |
Number | 21 |
Coaching career | 1994–present |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1978–1990 | Los Angeles Lakers |
1990–1991 | Virtus Roma |
As coach: | |
1994–1996 | Los Angeles Lakers (assistant) |
1999 | Los Angeles Sparks (assistant) |
2000–2004 | Los Angeles Sparks |
2004 | Denver Nuggets (assistant) |
2004–2005 | Denver Nuggets (interim) |
2005–2007 | Albuquerque Thunderbirds |
2007–2009 | Los Angeles Sparks |
2009–2013 | USC (women) |
2014–2017 | Atlanta Dream |
2019–present | Chadwick School |
Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As coach:
| |
Career statistics | |
Points | 7,729 (8.9 ppg) |
Assists | 3,666 (4.2 apg) |
Steals | 1,033 (1.2 spg) |
Stats at NBA.com | |
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
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
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
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
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
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 | 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
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 |
See also
References
- "Coach Bio". NBA.com/coachfile. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
- Hurt, Bob (May 13, 1984). "Injuries strengthen Lakers' bench". The Arizona Republic. p. Sports 1.
- Michael Cooper - Pasadena City Archived June 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine pasadena.edu, July 12, 2008.
- 1978 Draft Archived 2008-06-26 at the Wayback Machine basketball-reference.com, Retrieved July 12, 2008.
- "Thunderbirds Head Coach". NBA.com/dleague. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
- (February 6, 2002)Larry Bird Chat accessed October 5, 2008.
- 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.
- "Nuggets off to 13-15 start". ESPN. Associated Press. December 29, 2004. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
- "Michael Cooper quits at USC". ESPN. Associated Press. March 13, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- "Atlanta Dream Name Michael Cooper Head Coach". November 21, 2013. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
- https://m.facebook.com/ChadwickSchool/posts/10156166592162522
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michael Cooper (basketball). |
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com or Basketball-Reference.com
- Coaching record at basketball-reference.com: NBA, WNBA