NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates
Known for his defense, Michael Cooper celebrates a Lakers win in Game 2 of the 1987 NBA Finals in which he made six of seven three-point shotsd against the Celtics. (Bettmann Archive)
On April 1, around 9:15 a.m., Michael Cooper’s phone rang with the news that he finally had been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
He was sitting next to his wife, Yvonne, both of them listening. Yet as he heard the words being delivered about one of the highest honors in basketball, Cooper had his doubts.
His former Lakers teammate Magic Johnson had been lobbying for years to get Cooper into the Hall of Fame and it had never happened. When he first heard the news, Cooper thought why should he believe it was true this time?
“First of all, I got the call on April Fool’s Day, April 1st, and I thought it was a joke at first,” Cooper said, laughing. “I was sitting next to my wife and I had the call on speakerphone and I was like, ‘Right. OK. This is a cruel April Fool’s joke.’ They said, ‘No, Coop, you got in.’ I was kind of staring and my wife said, ‘Babe, they said you got in.’ So, yeah, I didn’t really expect it because the time they called before I didn’t get in. But they said I was in. I was elated. I got up and started yelling, ‘I’m in the Hall of Fame!’”
Cooper, 68, said he was convinced this time because he spoke with Jerry Colangelo, the chairman of the Hall of Fame.
“I heard Mr. Colangelo’s voice so I knew it was real because the other times they had called me he was never on the line,” Cooper said. “It was always somebody else saying, ‘Hey, Coop, listen, the consideration went in. You were real close, but not this year.’ But now, I’m in the Hall of Fame!”
Lakers forward Michael Cooper glides past Celtics guard Dennis Johnson for layup during a game in the 1985 NBA Finals. (Andy Hayt / NBAE via Getty Images)
Cooper spent all 12 years of his NBA career with the Lakers, defense being his calling card on the Showtime Lakers, using his gifts to help them win five NBA championships during the 1980s with Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/hall-fame-value-why-michael-110040402.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-10-13 11:00:40
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
