Few players in NBA history have had the kind of career that Michael Cooper can casually reflect on—five-time NBA champion, Defensive Player of the Year, Showtime Lakers cornerstone, and now, a Hall of Famer. These days, the Lakers legend is just as active as ever, trading his player’s clipboard for a coach’s whistle in the BIG3 and offering up his unique perspective on today’s game.
In this wide-ranging Q&A, Coop pulls no punches. He opens up about what excites him most about this season of the BIG3 and what he’s learned while coaching in the league. He takes us back to the Showtime era to unpack whether his Lakers were the original “Super Team,” and how that legacy compares to squads like LeBron James’ Miami Heat or the Barkley-era Rockets.
We also talk legacy—from his jersey retirement in Los Angeles to his induction into the Hall of Fame, and why he believes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar still isn’t getting the respect he deserves in the GOAT conversation. Cooper even weighs in on the new faces of the WNBA, comparing Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s arrival to the Magic vs. Bird effect of the 1980s—and why Reese’s game reminds him of a young James Worthy.
From Magic Johnson to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the legend doesn’t hold back. Let’s get into it.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: What are some of the biggest things that have stood out to you while coaching in the BIG3?
Michael Cooper: As a player when you retire and you leave the game, and you become a former some of things you miss are the camaraderie, the preparation, that venom that we no longer can put it out on the court but you still love being around the game. And the BIG3 has given that back to players of myself, Doctor J, George Gervin… just to name a few of the coaches that are here and that has definitely given me that love and that passion for the game; I could still receive that. The second thing is just being close to the game and you know as players, you look at the game from a mental standpoint and now we get the ability to achieve that and stay close although we’re not playing but, we still feel that passion that these guys have for the game and that’s another piece that I really love being in the BIG3 and what it’s about. And last but not least you get to see the game evolve, you know? The way we played in the 80’s — Doctor J, some of ‘em in the 70’s, the game has evolved from that, you know? The three-point shot has become more prevalent and relevant. For us? It was an afterthought shot; championships were won in the paint, now that game has evolved. They added a new step to the game — that little step back, that was traveling in our days but, now they added that. So those three things we get to see and get a passion for and be part of, and watch the next phase of what’s coming. I have a 20-year old son that’s playing; the game’s gonna be different in 5 or 10 years when he hopefully gets the opportunity to play in the pros, it’s from there. So that’s what the BIG3 allows us and the 4-point shot is the NBA… one day they’re going to implement it and I think very soon because these guys are shooting further and further out there. What do they call that shot now? The logo shot? From wherever from halfcourt? Well, you might as well give them an extra point because they’re knocking that shot with regularity! So, those are some of things that I enjoy being a part of the BIG3 getting a chance to see the innovation and the change coming about. One thing that they’ll never have that I love about this league is that they have Bring the Fire. If I go to the basket and I get fouled and as a defensive player I don’t think it was a foul… You know what? There’s no more talk about it. When you’re in the street playing a street game, what do y’all do? You take it out one-on-one and that’s what we do here. You can’t do that in the NBA, but it’s still a fun part of the game. That’s what I love about the BIG3 and those are the three things that have been impactful to me and keeps me close to this game.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Do you think the Showtime Lakers would be considered a “Super Team” by today’s standards?
Michael Cooper: I think so. I think that whole era in the 80’s we won. We went to the NBA Finals 9 times. People don’t understand that — from 1980 to 1991, we went to the Finals nine times. And we won it five times. And we went through a lot of tough, talented teams. You look at it for us, we had the Seattle Supersonics when they won the championship in ‘79. We dethroned them in 1980. You had George “Iceman” Gervin and the A-Train (Artis Gilmore), you had Portland the team that they had up there with Mychal Thompson and Clyde Drexler; you had the Utah Jazz with Karl Malone and John Stockton just to name a few, ok? Then you look at the East. You had Detroit. You had Boston. You had the Sixers. You had Cleveland. You had Atlanta with Dominique [Wilkins] and the group that he had. So we went through some very good teams, you know? Fortunately, we only had to play one of the East teams one time for the championship but the things that we did and we were able to do throughout the 80’s, I would call us a super team for sure.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: How would you compare your Showtime Lakers to the ‘Super Teams’ that came after—like the 2010-2014 Miami Heat with LeBron, Wade, and Bosh, or when Charles Barkley joined the Houston Rockets?
Michael Cooper: Yeah I would. But I think the difference between our team and any other team — and the Miami team, I’m not saying that they weren’t a great team because LeBron and Wade and Shaq there that damn sure was a super team but, we RAN! And we ran consistently and we practiced to run so, we may have a lull of 2 or 3 minutes in the game but for 46 minutes, we’re gonna run you to death! [laughs] We’re gonna get up and down the floor, we’re gonna play defense — even though people don’t see us because when you talk about Showtime Lakers, you talk about Magic’s no-look passes, [James] Worthy swooping to the hoop, A Coop-A-Loop, Kareem’s skyhook, Magic’s drive… but you didn’t see us as a defensive team but, we were a very VERY good defensive team and that’s why it enabled us to be in so many games as we did. But you know what? We were gonna run you. We were gonna push tempo. Magic was the best at this all the time. Even if you score, if you score we’re coming back at you and probably most of the time and I would say 8 out 10 times, we were scoring in 4 seconds back at you. So we would always catch you off guard because not only were we going to run you and get back on defense but now we’re gonna get up on you and pressure you full court. And if you’re a running team, it’s gonna take its toll somewhere along the line and if you’re a walking team or a halfcourt team — with us scoring a quick 8-10 points that changes your style of play. You gotta run to get back in the game. So you know what? Super teams are very rare but I think the Houston [Rockets] team that Barkley played with and the guys that he had on that team, I would consider them that but again, my thinking of “Super Teams” is winning championships. And if you win a championship that requires that you can possibly be one but, it’s the mile of longevity and how good were you? Not just one or two years, but how good were you. Yeah we didn’t win every year, but we were very good every year and like I said in the 80’s, we went to the Finals 9 times in no joke. Winning it 5 times? We were good.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: What has life been like since being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame?
Michael Cooper: [smiling] Busy. I never thought that I would ever get into the Hall of Fame. I had a little afterthought like, Okay. The Hall of Fame is about your body of work. Things you’ve done over your lifetime in basketball… and when I think about it and you compare it to other people, no I wasn’t an All-Star; no I wasn’t a 20-point scorer but I was a champion and I think that is worthy of consideration. Then after I finished playing, I went and coached in the WNBA and I was fortunate to win with the group that I had there — 2 WNBA Championships there. And then after I leave that, I go coach in the G-League for the NBA and they have a new team opening up; the Albuquerque Thunderbirds and I go down there and within… I coached there for two years. My first year we walked into a championship. So through all of that and then being a J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award winner in 1987, myself Rory Sparrow we co-winners of that and that award is about what you do in your communities and the communities around and I established an attendance program through the Lakers PR Department and I went out to 250 schools that year every morning trying to encourage kids because you can’t be unless you’re at school. So we were giving out tickets, we were giving out awards, we were giving out certificates for kids being on time at school and it really changed the dynamics of school at that time because you know what? Kids were real Lakers fans as they are today and any fans of any NBA team are that so why not give them an incentive and give them a reward because it starts at home. When you’re trying as a young man getting up and you’re home you have a tendency to kind of lull and get going. So what we did is we gave a little incentive to the parent, Get your child up and you come to a Lakers game! And that’s what happened! We changed the percentage! The percentage was like 50-60% prior to us starting the program in Los Angeles, and then it went up to 98% ! It keeps getting up because they had an opportunity to win something by just being at school on time. And when you’re at school on time the teacher can teach you and you can learn and you can progress from there. So being in the Hall of Fame, all of that kind of helped — they called my number and the funny part about is my call came on April 1st [laughs] So I thought it was an April Fools joke and I was like, ‘This is very cruel if you guys are playing this…’ but Mr. Colangelo was on the call and was like, “Coop. This is no joke. You’re in, man!” and you know what? I am so honored and proud to be part of that special group and it only gets bigger and better every year but I can finally say that I’m a Hall of Famer and it’s been a busy year. Because people want you a little bit more so, I’m taking advantage of that and trying to get out there and continue my body of work any way I can as far as speaking at schools and continuing that drive.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: How special was it for you to have your No. 21 jersey retired by the Lakers? What did that moment mean to you?
Michael Cooper: That’s the one that brought me to tears. Hall of Fame I cried a little bit because I was a little emotional because you’re thinking about all the people that helped you out along that path. But the criteria for getting your jersey number retired I was told by the late great Jerry West was a little different and you had to be an All-Star; you had to have certain criterias — you had to average 15 or something points, but with Jeanie Buss taking the lead of her dad Dr. [Jerry] Buss, who’s always been an innovator and creator and just doing different things out of the norm; when they came and told me that they were going to honor me, and I think a little bit of that had to do with me being in the Hall of Fame, I never ever could see my jersey being hung up in the rafters for however long basketball to be played wherever it is that the Lakers play is the ultimate honor and I’ve always played this game for the love of the game and once I got the love in me, I’ve always played for championships and I’ve always wanted to be part of something special; and the Lakers is like family. That’s the only organization that I’ve ever known. I’ve never played for another owner — I’ve played for different coaches, but Pat Riley was THE COACH for me. And for the Lakers to say, “You know what Coop? Everything you’ve done… blood, sweat and skin that you left out there on the floor, we’re gonna honor you by putting your jersey up there…” That was one. So the day that it happened, I was very nervous and you know what the surprising thing was that in the Hall of Fame, I had 10 or 11 teammates show up and I think I tied a record for one player going in and having the most teammates show up; and they did the same thing with my jersey retirement — I had 12 guys I think, there. And Kareem wasn’t able to make it but he sent his regards and I spoke to him a couple days before that, that’s VERY to know that we are family and the day you put that Lakers until it’s over with when it ends, it doesn’t mean you’re not family. And the Laker fellas? We stand up and stand out and show out for one another and to see my teammates there when that went up there was very very very special and touching and it’s a day that I will never forget as well with my family being there.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Why do you think Kareem Abdul-Jabbar isn’t brought up more often in the GOAT conversations, despite all that he’s accomplished?
Michael Cooper: Because I think in today’s world and when you talk about NBA people today, people can only remember the people that they’re talking about. This can only go back so far, 20 or 25 years maybe. And a lot of people don’t remember — ‘cause I mean, I hope you’re old enough… I know I’m sure old enough to remember Kareem when he was at Power Memorial; and to remember him at UCLA and you see how he changed the game — they outlawed the dunk because of this guy. So a lot of kids like my son, they don’t remember that, you know? They only go with the players that they’ve seen over the last 5 or 6 years and there have been some great ones; you look at Steph Curry and LeBron James just to name two. There’s many more but to bring those names up, that’s who kids see so they don’t… the good thing about it is that we got Google and we can go back look at the archives back there but, to come to their mind with the freshness of it, see my mind goes back then and if I were to name my top five people it probably wouldn’t include a lot of players today, you know? Although LeBron James has broken that by breaking the scoring record, my top 5 players are older players. So when you talk to kids and you talk about the greatest players to play the game, they can only go back so far and Kareem gets left out because Kareem to me is the GOAT. And the three things that make a GOAT to me is: One, he can score whenever he wants to and it didn’t matter if you doubled or tripled Kareem, he was gonna score. How do you stop Michael Jordan? You double team him. How do you stop LeBron James? You go double and triple team and they gotta pass the ball. Kareem didn’t have to pass the ball and that was proven in 1985 when Boston triple teamed him and he hit that 20-foot hook in the corner to kill Boston off for us to win our first championship in 1985. Second thing to make a GOAT: Can he make his free throws? And that knocks a lot of people out and to me, I don’t think LeBron is a very good free throw shooter down the stretch and that nullifies Shaq. Shaq was not a very good free throw shooter. Kareem was going to get up there and knock his free throws down as well as Kobe and Michael Jordan but, it goes back to that number #1 rule: How do you stop Kobe and Michael Jordan? You double and triple team him and make him pass the ball. Last but not least, a GOAT has to MAKE OTHERS AROUND HIM BETTER! And when teams tried to double and triple team us and Kareem had the ball, Kareem was an excellent passer. Excellent passer! He would always cut through the lane or that guy from the weak side or that guy out front to get the swing pass together to find the open man, So that’s why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to me is the greatest of all time because he had all three of those attributes covered.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Do Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s rise in the WNBA remind you at all of the Magic Johnson and Larry Bird effect in the NBA during the ’80s?
Michael Cooper: Oh for sure. For sure! They have done some things! But remember, before you get to them you gotta talk about the ones that came before them; and Cynthia Cooper, Tina Thompson, Sheryll Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Yolanda Griffith and Lauren Jackson were some of the best that played this game and that’s what started this league [the WNBA]. And when I first got involved, I got involved with the WNBA in 2000. The league had started in ‘97 and that’s what enamored me to get involved because I got a chance to see the women play in the Summer Pro League up at UCLA and I was like, ‘Oh!’ and when I got asked for an opportunity to participate and to become a coach, I jumped at it but those ladies set the foundation for the league to stand firm and stand strong and to go to what it is now. Then you add in Diana Turasi, Sue Bird… players like that’ve come along. So now we get to the point where we have Skylar Diggins, Catlin Clark, and Angel Reese. You got players now that have a great foundation that this league had and now look where they are now. So those two players are doing exactly what Bird and Magic did when they came into the league. They changed the league; they changed everything, you know? You go with Catlin Clark coming in. They go from —- and I was in that league for 14 years flying domestic and heaving those hard flights. Well now they’re flying charter and they’re getting the due recognition granted not that the older players didn’t get, but it’s because of the older players that they’re getting this but, they’re leading WNBA into the new future. And now, the new league that I love about it is Cynthina Cooper… Sheryll Swoopes had to watch men play the game in order to learn how to play the game. With Catlin Clark and the young people coming up now they can watch the Caitlin Clarks; they can watch [Paige] Bueckers, Angel Reese… they can watch them and emulate and be like them and say, I want to be like them and let me get my game together! Because these ladies are playing at a whole nother level that they thought wasn’t available to them and now look what you got.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Does Angel Reese’s game or impact remind you in any way of James Worthy during your Showtime Lakers era?
Michael Cooper: I would say that without the dunks, yeah. She can get to the basket; she can get flamboyant about it — look at A’ja Wilson. She’s another one that’s just like a very dominant back to the basket center with a face up game if you want to look at her because Kareem was like that, you know? He was good with his back to the basket but he could step out and shoot the jumper so, Angel Reese yeah. She gets out on that wing and runs the floor hard, she plays hard and she plays with an heir of determination that you don’t see or haven’t seen in a while and she’s the new… she and Catlin Clark are the new WNBA players that’s going to take the league to the next stratosphere.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Do you think we’ll ever see another player in the league with Magic Johnson’s skill set and court vision?
Michael Cooper: An NBA player? Hmmm…. I’m thinking maybe Chris Paul. I think Stephen Curry. They don’t have that big version, that big stature but they see the court just as well as Magic did and they did add the offensive firepower to that. Curry gets the assists and scoring and that’s something Magic wasn’t about all the time about as far as that. Magic could score but Magic was a rebounder. Those guys don’t do that but they score at such a high level that their assists and scoring are almost like a triple double because they’re not getting offensive rebounds to score. So yeah, you see players of Magic’s capability but you’ll NEVER see a player of Magic’s stature playing like that but again, I saw it coming along and remember the first person who started it was Oscar Robertson back in the 60’s. Nobody ever thought that there would be another Big O — 6’5” post up, score, rebound, get triple-doubles and then all of the sudden you see Magic coming through, and then you see Russell Westbrook who did it but you’re talking about Magic’s stature? He’s not here yet, but he’s coming down the lane. But again, those players are just one of many that will come but there will NEVER be one exactly like him.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Have you seen anyone in today’s game—like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander—who reminds you of players from your era?
Michael Cooper: Yes. George Gervin. Kevin Durant. Yeah. You see players like him but he plays the game in a different kind of way. That young man is so….. The one thing I love about SGA is that if you look at his game, he never very rarely, maybe once a game but, I haven’t seen it in this playoff series see him take a bad shot. He doesn’t take falling back leaning all the way back — if he does, he scores. But he doesn’t take a lot of bad shots and he always plays the game at his speed and he gets what he wants. You know, one of the unique things that I was able to experience was a young Kobe Bryant. I worked Kobe out when he came in and did his workout with the Lakers and it was certain things that Jerry had wanted him to do — get to this spot, get to the elbow, get to the low post, get to the midrange and we put X’s on the floor to where he had to get to and my job was to keep him away from that. Now there were many times that he didn’t get there and there were many times that he did get there and every time he hit his shot but, the things that we saw with Kobe, is that he got to his spots. Great NBA players know where their spot is on the floor. Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson… These guys know where their spots are. They know if they get to that spot, 9 out of 10 times they’re going to hit that shot and that’s what SGA has. He can get to his spots. People can’t keep him away from where he wants to now… he can decide to take this shot here but he knows, If I can get to this spot, I’m knocking down the shot… that’s the one thing you gotta appreciate about that man’s game and that boy is getting better, better and better and that’s why they got their work cut out for them for OKC but I think Indiana is gonna win that series but that young man has great future ahead of him and it’s only gonna get brighter.
Michael Cooper’s basketball journey spans eras, generations, and now leagues — from Showtime at the Forum to mentoring the next wave of hoopers in the BIG3. Whether he’s breaking down the evolution of the “Super Team,reflecting on Magic’s once-in-a-lifetime brilliance, or giving flowers to Kareem and the women changing the game in the WNBA, Coop’s insight is sharp, layered, and rooted in firsthand greatness.
It’s clear that while his playing days may be behind him, Cooper’s voice and presence still carry weight—from the hardwood to the Hall of Fame. And whether it’s coaching in the BIG3, watching stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander redefine smooth, or celebrating the rise of Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, Cooper remains locked into the game he loves—still defending, still dishing wisdom, and still holding it down for the culture.
