Michael Cooper

Michael Cooper -played his entire 12 year NBA career with the Lakers and was always a fan favorite, Laker fans at the Great Western Forum was chant "Cooooooooop" whenever he handled the basketball. He was a Los Angeles native growing up in Pasadena, California and attending Pasadena City College before transferring to the University of New Mexico. He came to the Lakers in the 1978 draft and became one of the main pieces of the 80's showtime Lakers. He was respected by all for his tough defensive skills even though he stood 6'7" and a real thin 174 lbs. Cooper would usually get assigned to the toughest defensive jobs. Larry Bird once said that Cooper was the toughest defensive player he ever played against. He was not a big scorer averaging only 8.9 PPG, 4.2 A, 3.2 R and 1.2 steals per game in his career but it seemed like whenever the Lakers needed a big three pointer or block that Cooper was always there delivering at the right time. Eight times he was named to eight NBA All Defensive teams, five times on the first team. Once, he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1987. Alongside of Magic and Kareem he would win five NBA championships during the 80's - 1980 - 1982 - 1985 - 1987 and 1988. The Lakers sometimes ran an alley-oop play for him that was dubbed the "Coop-a-loop." Retiring after the 1989-90 season, he was ranked among the club’s all-time top 10 in three-point field goals (378), games played (793), total minutes played (21,784), steals (966), blocked shots (487), assists (3,451), defensive rebounds (1,860), offensive rebounds (682) and free throw percentage (.829).