Former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Michael Cooper continues to be involved in the game even an illustrious career with the storied franchise where he helped them win five NBA Championships.
Cooper was a staple on the “Showtime” Lakers but after he retired, he spent time with Los Angeles as an assistant coach. He later moved on to the WNBA, where he became an assistant for the Los Angeles Sparks before eventually becoming their head coach in 2000. With the Sparks, Cooper would win the 2000 WNBA Coach of the Year award and later lead them to two WNBA Championships.
After his success in the WNBA, Cooper found his way back to the NBA with the Denver Nuggets and even served as the interim during the 2004-05 season. After that, he wound up coaching the Albuquerque Thunderbirds from 2005 to 2007, leading the former D-League team to a championship in 2006. After that success, Cooper’s next stops included a second stint with the Sparks, the USC women’s team and then the Atlanta Dream.
Even at 65 years old, Cooper remains a basketball lifer who can not seem to get enough of the sidelines. The former Laker has made an impact at each of his coaching stops and it looks like he has a chance to build up another program as he is set to become the new head coach of the Culver City High School boys basketball team, via the team’s official Twitter:
Welcome our new Head Coach Michael Cooper. We are excited to have him! Looking forward to a great season. pic.twitter.com/T1YcDEFAyW
— CulverCityBasketball (@BBall_CulverHS) September 9, 2021
Cooper has been coaching at the high school level for a few years now as he has served as the head coach for Chadwick School between 2019 to 2021. Coaching youth players comes with its own challenges but with all the wealth and knowledge he has amassed over his decades-long coaching career he should be a good fit for a team that will surely benefit from having him around.
Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar make case for Michael Cooper to be in Hall of Fame
As a player, Cooper has a decent case to make the Basketball Hall of Fame given what he meant to the Lakers. It was no surprise, then, to see Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lobby for their former teammate to make the Hall earlier this year.
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