Antonio Ray Harvey
California Legislature Honors LA Lakers Legend Michael Cooper
Cooper, 68, will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on October 13, in Springfield, MA. He spent his entire 12-year NBA career playing for the Lakers and helped the team win five NBA titles.
By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media
Accompanied by Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) and Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood), former Los Angeles Lakers legend Michael Cooper was honored on the Assembly and Senate floors of the California State Capitol on Aug. 5
Cooper, 68, will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on October 13, in Springfield, MA. He spent his entire 12-year NBA career playing for the Lakers and helped the team win five NBA titles.
“What an honor to be at the State Capitol, honored by the Legislature, and have a chance to meet Gov. Gavin Newsom,” Cooper told California Black Media. “Chris (Holden) and I go way back to high school. For him to bring me up here and bestow this honor is gratifying.”
Alongside his wife Wanda Cooper, “Coop” had a full day of activities in the capital city. After he was presented on both floors of the State Capitol, he took portrait shots and selfies with lawmakers.
Cooper played for Pasadena High School and the University of New Mexico in the 1970s.
Holden, 64, who played for Pasadena High and played basketball for San Diego State University, said Cooper had exceptional defensive skills.
“He played the game with heart, and he played it with intensity,” Holden said. “When you think of the fact that you can have a player make it to the Naismith Hall of Fame as a defensive specialist…that is special. He had to defend the greats of the game. They knew when he stepped on the court with him, they were in for a battle.”
After the Capitol honors, the Coopers attended a reception at 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 organization nurtures Black American youth through community service, legislative advocacy, and philanthropy.
The reception was held on the first floor, where California State Hall of Fame inductees are on exhibit. Weber said that recognition should also include Cooper, who was born and raised in the state.
“I was looking around, and Chris (Holden) said, ‘he isn’t on the wall,’” Weber said. “It is not my responsibility, but I am going to work on that. We’re going to make sure California knows it has a person of honor and (Cooper) should be up on that wall.”
Cooper said he is still getting used to the fact that he will be among 450-plus inductees after a remarkable career on and off the basketball court. The 2024 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Massachusetts, where basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith in 1891.
“For a kid coming out of Pasadena, California, who had to fight and scratch just to be on the high school team, then finally my journey of going to the Lakers, and never been a starter or All-Star? For my footprint to be at the door of the Hall of Fame and it finally opens says a lot to me,” Cooper said.
Today, Cooper is an assistant coach for California State University Los Angeles’ Men’s Basketball Team. Jim Saia is the head coach for the Golden Eagles.
