Michael Cooper

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Michael Cooper Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Celebration

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Michael Cooper Highlights

Highlights from eight-time All Defense team member Michael Cooper

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Great Defensive Play by Cooper

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Michael Cooper has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, class of 2024.

Cooper was named to eight NBA All-Defensive Teams, taking home First-Team accolades five times and winning Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1987. The former third-round draft pick (60th overall) out of the University of New Mexico spent his entire 12-year NBA career (1978-90) with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning five championships while routinely matching up with the opponent’s top shooter.

The 6-foot-5 forward largely played as a sixth man and in addition to his defense was known for his knee-high socks and being on the receiving end of alley-oops from Magic Johnson. The Pasadena native played in more than 80 games in nine of his 12 seasons.

Following his playing career, Cooper entered the coaching ranks and earned WNBA Coach of the Year accolades in 2000 with the Los Angeles Sparks before winning back-to-back WNBA titles in 2001-02.

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Michael Cooper Inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame

Joey Ramirez

After coming up empty in their first two trips to the Three-Point Contest, nearly three decades came and went before the Lakers sent another shooter to the All-Star Weekend event, but now Nick Young is trying to bring the elusive trophy to Los Angeles.

All three Lakers who have represented at the event have been born-and-bred Angelenos trying to win for their city.

Ironically for a team with few entries into this contest, the Lakers had two participants in their first attempt back during the Showtime era.

Michael Cooper (1987)
The eventual Defensive Player of the Year showed off his skills on the other end in the first round, finishing with 15 points in Seattle — the second-most behind Dallas’ Detlef Schrempf (19).

With the field narrowed down to four in the semifinals, the Pasadena native ended up the odd man out, as he only scored 10 while Schrempf took second with 16.

Cooper finished the regular season with the NBA’s second-most triples (89) on its eighth-best percentage (38.5). But his biggest moment from beyond the arc came during the NBA Finals against Larry Bird, who beat Schrempf in the Three-Point championship round.

The Lakers ended up capturing the championship that year by beating Bird’s Celtics in six games. Cooper was huge in Game 2 — splashing six 3-pointers, which remains a since-tied franchise Finals record.

Byron Scott (1987, 1988)
Scott’s introduction to the Three-Point Contest went about as poorly as it could’ve, as he finished last with only nine points in 1987.

Nonetheless, the NBA invited him to perform the next year in Chicago, and the Inglewood product didn’t disappoint.

In a polar-opposite performance, Scott caught fire immediately, knocking down his first seven shots as well as his last four. By the time the buzzer sounded, he had won the first round with 19 points.

However, in the semifinals, his shooting tailed off at the very end, as he made just one of his last nine attempts.

Scott — who ended with 11 points — came just one shy of tying Seattle’s Dale Ellis for a chance to advance into the championship round. Instead, the trophy wound up back in Bird’s hands, as the Hall of Famer captured his third straight Three-Point Contest title.

Nick Young (2017)
After a 29-year absence, the Lakers finally had another contestant at the Three-Point Contest when Nick Young took the stage in New Orleans.

Young — who ranked among the NBA's top 15 in both made 3-pointers and 3-point percentage at All-Star Break — nearly made it through to the championship round of the 2017 edition, which went straight from the eight-man field to the three-man finals.

He caught fire on the final rack, hitting four-of-five to finish with 18 points — just one shy of forcing a shootout for the final spot of advancement.

With Young left one "money ball" shot away from making the championship, Houston's Eric Gordon went on to win it all.

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The Lakers' History In the Three-Point Contest

The Lakers are honoring their 1986-87 championship team’s 30th anniversary by wearing Hardwood Classics throwbacks for select games. The following is a part of a series chronicling that team’s title run.

After sweeping Denver in the opening round of the 1987 playoffs, the Lakers made sure to avoid being upset by a Golden State team that went just 42-40 during the regular season.

Los Angeles (65-17) very nearly fell down that path in Game 1, trailing by seven at halftime. However, league MVP Magic Johnson and All-Star starter James Worthy had other plans.

The Lakers exploded for a 49-23 third quarter, pushing ahead for 125-116 win, as Worthy led the scoring with 28 points, while Johnson collected a monster triple-double with 25 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists.

Game 2 was a scoring bonanza for the purple and gold, which had six players reach double figures in a 116-101 win. Thirty-nine-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the way with 25 points and four blocks, while Johnson (23 points) and Worthy (20) were excellent, per usual.

Plus, Defensive Player of the Year Michael Cooper shined on the other side of the ball, tallying 12 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists off the bench.

Game 3 was simply a beatdown, as the Lakers cruised to a 133-108 victory behind Worthy’s 28 points and another triple-double by Johnson (20 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists). Former No. 1 pick and mid-season acquisition Mychal Thompson got in on the action, racking up 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Game 4 appeared to be more of the same, as the Lakers took a 14-point lead heading into the final quarter. However, Golden State’s Sleepy Floyd wasn’t going to allow his team to be swept.

An All-Star for that year only, Floyd set NBA postseason records by scoring 29 points in the fourth quarter and 39 in the second half to finish with 51 on 18-of-26 shooting from the field and 13-of-14 on free throws.

Though Byron Scott (28 points) and Abdul-Jabbar (27) had the Lakers lined up for a win, Floyd added 10 assists and four steals, while receiving help from fellow one-time All-Star Joe Barry Carroll (23) and Larry Smith (16 rebounds), as the Warriors survived with a 129-121 victory in Oakland.

However, their season would end soon after. The Lakers once again built a big lead in Game 5, going up by 22 in three quarters, but this time buried Golden State, 118-106. Worthy led the way with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting, while A.C. Green (20 points) and Johnson (19 points, 13 assists) did the rest.

Worthy was an animal throughout the series, averaging 22.0 points on a  62.0 percent clip (44-of-71). Johnson — whose 12.2 assists per game led the league just ahead of Floyd (10.3) — won the battle between top point guards by putting up 20.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 10.8 assists.

However, Floyd wasn’t a slouch, providing his team 22.6 points and 10.4 assists. In fact, with the likes of Carroll (20.0 points), Smith (13.8 points, 15.6 rebounds) and future five-time All-Star Chris Mullin all competing under first-year head coach George Karl, the Warriors were certainly a team capable of pushing the Lakers closer to elimination.

Nonetheless, Coach of the Year Pat Riley and co. ensured that one game was all Golden State would take, as the Lakers moved to 5-1 all-time against the Warriors in the playoffs.