The Los Angeles Lakers are set to return to the court on Monday night, hosting the San Antonio Spurs, after having their last two games postponed due to the Southern California wildfires.
The Lakers are hosting a donation drive to support the victims, although Monday’s game will also be about franchise legend Michael Cooper as well as his No. 21 jersey will be going up into the rafters.
There was some talk about potentially postponing the ceremony given the uncertainty surrounding the fires, but the Lakers announced they will indeed be retiring Cooper’s jersey in a ceremony at halftime of Monday’s game:
A five-time NBA Champion, Hall of Famer, and Lakers legend. Tomorrow we celebrate raising No. 21 into the rafters forever 💛 pic.twitter.com/1Beldv676s
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 13, 2025
Cooper spoke about what this means for him and his family on his Showtime podcast a few months back:
“I’m 68 years old, had a wonderful NBA career, my after basketball career has been fabulous, but I’m experiencing something very fantastic. I’ve always played this game, and everybody knows that, for the love of the game. But some magnificent individual accolades have been bestowed upon me. First being named into the Hall of Fame, which would be October 12th and 13th and I thought the dream had ended right there. But the Lakers yesterday had bestowed upon me probably one of the most prestigious award any NBA player, any athlete, can get playing for an organization. And I’ve always said the Lakers are a great organization, I’m not saying it now because of what they’ve done for me. And what they’ve done is they’re going to retire my jersey on January 13th. If we weren’t on camera I would start crying, but I did my crying last night. I got a chance to talk about it like an adult. That there is the ultimate award, because what that means is that every time you walk into the arena where the Lakers play, that jersey is going to be up there with some of the best that’s ever played this game. You have Wilt Chamberlain, Magic, Kareem, Shaq, Kobe twice just to name a few. And now the No. 21. And the thing I like about that is because we would all like to live forever but that’s not going to happen. But my kids, grandkids and my great great grandkids, any time they go to a Lakers event, they’ll see the No. 21 hanging up there with the insignia Cooper on it. That’s who they are and that’s where it all began. So like I said, it’s the year of me. I’m going to revel in it a little bit because I do appreciate the Lakers for that. Like I said, I just played for the love of the game and for heart and for winning championships. There was a point where I could have left, but loyalty means something, and yeah you can be a great player. But the first franchise you ever get to be with is where you play your heart and soul. I always tell people I never played in Crypto.com Arena, but I left a lot of skin and a lot of blood, I left a piece of my hair stuck in a scaffold at the Forum and the greatest memories I ever had were playing this game at the Forum.”
The Lakers only retire jerseys of players that made the Basketball Hall of Fame, so Cooper had to wait a while before receiving the honor. He finally made the Hall of Fame as part of the 2024 class, paving the way for his No. 21 jersey to join some of his Showtime teammates and other Laker greats in the rafters.
While this has been a difficult time for the local community, it will be cool to see everyone come together on Monday to celebrate Cooper, who is more than deserving of this honor.
Michael Cooper wishes Kobe Bryant could be at Lakers jersey retirement ceremony
While Michael Cooper is excited to have his jersey retired by the Lakers, he previously expressed that he wishes Kobe Bryant could’ve been there to see it.
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