By Antonio Ray Harvey
Contributing Author
SACRAMENTO — Accompanied by Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, and state Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Inglewood, former Los Angeles Lakers legend Michael Cooper was honored on ground of the California State Capitol Aug. 5
Cooper, 68, can be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Corridor of Fame Oct. 13, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He spent his total 12-year NBA profession enjoying for the Lakers and helped the group win 5 NBA titles.
“What an honor to be on the State Capitol, honored by the Legislature, and have an opportunity to satisfy Gov. Gavin Newsom,” Cooper informed California Black Media. “Chris (Holden) and I am going method again to highschool. For him to convey me up right here and bestow this honor is gratifying.”
Alongside his spouse, Wanda, Cooper had a full day of actions within the capital metropolis. After he was offered on each flooring of the State Capitol, he took portrait photographs and selfies with lawmakers.
Cooper performed for Pasadena Excessive College and the College of New Mexico within the Nineteen Seventies.
Holden, 64, who performed for Pasadena Excessive and performed basketball at San Diego State College, mentioned Cooper had distinctive defensive abilities.
“He performed the sport with coronary heart, and he performed it with depth,” Holden mentioned. “Once you consider the truth that you’ll be able to have a participant make it to the Naismith Corridor of Fame as a defensive specialist … that’s particular. He needed to defend the greats of the sport. They knew when he stepped on the court docket with him they had been in for a battle.”
After the Capitol honors, the Coopers attended a reception on the California State Museum hosted by Secretary of State Shirley Weber. There, Cooper met with youth from the San Diego Chapter of Jack and Jill of America. The group nurtures Black American youth by group service, legislative advocacy and philanthropy.
The reception was held on the primary ground, the place California State Corridor of Fame inductees are on exhibit. Weber mentioned that recognition also needs to embrace Cooper, who was born and raised within the state.
“I used to be wanting round, and Chris (Holden) mentioned, ‘he isn’t on the wall,’” Weber mentioned. “It’s not my accountability, however I’m going to work on that. We’re going to ensure California is aware of it has an individual of honor and (Cooper) ought to be up on that wall.”
Cooper mentioned he’s nonetheless getting used to the truth that he can be amongst 450-plus inductees after a exceptional profession on and off the basketball court docket. The 2024 Corridor of Fame induction ceremony will happen in Massachusetts, the place basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891.
“For a child popping out of Pasadena, California, who needed to struggle and scratch simply to be on the highschool group, then lastly my journey of going to the Lakers, and by no means been a starter or all star? For my footprint to be on the door of the Corridor of Fame and it lastly opens says lots to me,” Cooper mentioned. “It’s additionally a blessing. I’m nonetheless coming to grips with it. It’s just a little bit overwhelming.”
At 6-foot-7, Cooper was chosen by the Lakers with the sixtieth decide within the 1978 NBA Draft. Primarily in a reserve position off the bench, he went on to make the NBA All-Defensive First Crew 5 instances in his profession (1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988). Cooper managed to make three NBA All-Defensive Second Groups as properly (1981,1983, 1986).
For the 1986-1987 season, he earned the NBA Defensive Participant of the Yr award as the highest defender within the league.
In 1987, Cooper was offered with the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award with Rory Sparrow of the New York Knicks. The award, named after the NBA’s second commissioner, is handed out each season by the Skilled Basketball Writers Affiliation to a participant, coach, or athletic coach who supplied excellent service and dedication to the group.
“See that’s one other factor concerning the Naismith Corridor of Fame,” Cooper mentioned. “It’s not all about being an NBA All-Star or something. It’s about your contributions to the sport of basketball. It’s about what you give again to the sport that has given us a lot.”
Put up retirement, Cooper coached the Los Angeles Sparks of the Girls’s Nationwide Basketball Affiliation. In 2000, he earned the Coach of the Yr honor and led the Sparks to back-to-back WNBA titles in 2001 and 2002. He’s the one individual on this planet to win a championship as a participant or coach within the NBA, WNBA and NBA D-League (renamed the G-League).
At present, Cooper is an assistant coach for the Cal State Los Angeles males’s basketball group underneath head coach Jim Saia.
For up-and-coming basketball gamers, coaches and trainers, Cooper has a message.
“Maintain working onerous as a result of goals do come true,” he mentioned. “The true blessing can be fulfilled. I can inform you these issues occurred to me. It’s been an awesome experience.”
Antonio Ray Harvey is a reporter for California Black Media.
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