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Michael Cooper spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers as a defense-minded guard who always focused on helping his Showtime teammates to be stars.
When the Lakers raised Cooper’s No. 21 to the rafters on Monday night, Cooper relished his long-awaited turn to be in the spotlight.
The 17-time NBA champion Lakers honored Cooper in a halftime ceremony during their game against the San Antonio Spurs, unveiling his No. 21 jersey on the wall of honor at their downtown arena between Magic Johnson’s No. 32 and James Worthy’s No. 42.
It’s an appropriate position for Cooper, who served as the hardworking glue guy on the glamorous, exciting teams that won five NBA championships in the 1980s.
“This is so overwhelming to me, because I never expected this at all,” the 68-year-old Cooper said. “I always played for the love of the game, and the team, and winning championships. Tonight is, to me, more special than the Hall of Fame — but both of them are equally important.”
Michael Cooper’s No. 21 jersey now hangs between Magic Johnson’s No. 32 and James Worthy’s No. 42. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
Cooper is still wildly popular in his native Los Angeles area, as evidenced by the standing ovations and serenades of “Coooooooooop” given to him throughout the night. The Lakers gave a Cooper replica jersey to every fan at their downtown arena for their first game since wildfires devastated the Los Angeles area.
The number retirement coincidentally occurred on an already emotional night for the Lakers and their fans after their two previous games were postponed because of the catastrophic wildfires. Cooper is a Pasadena native who also lived in next-door Altadena, which has been devastated by the fire originating in Eaton Canyon.
“It’s kind of a happy-sad moment for me,” Cooper said. “A lot of the landmarks, a couple of the middle schools I went to, those are all gone now. Tonight I’m going to enjoy it, but with a heavy heart because so many people lost so many things.”
Cooper was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last October, 33 years after his last NBA game. The Lakers only retire the numbers of Hall of Famers, and they quickly announced Cooper would join some of the most important players in basketball history among the franchise’s honored players.
Cooper was never an All-Star, but he was a 1980s version of the 3-and-D specialists that have become a vital part of any NBA team in the 21st century. He was a five-time selection for the All-Defensive first team, and he was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1987.
“I always tried to play the game the right way,” Cooper said. “It’s such a good feeling that people recognize that. Although I’ve always been on a team with a lot of megastars, sometimes I got overshadowed. But that didn’t bother me, because it was always about the body of work that we were putting together, and winning championships.”
Cooper went on to a long coaching career after leaving the Lakers, most notably leading the Los Angeles Sparks to two WNBA championships.
Cooper was joined on court for the halftime ceremony by former Lakers coach Pat Riley and several former Lakers teammates, including Johnson, Worthy, Byron Scott, Norm Nixon, Jamaal Wilkes, Kurt Rambis and Vlade Divac.
Johnson took the microphone first, calling Cooper “one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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