The Los Angeles Lakers will honor club legend and icon Michael Copper this season by officially raising his No. 21 jersey into the rafters at the Crypto.com Arena. Upon the announcement of the 2024-25 NBA schedule, Dan Woike revealed that the Lakers will retire Cooper's jersey on 13 January 2025, as the Lakers matchup with the San Antonio Spurs.
"One very important date - the Lakers will retire Michael Cooper's No. 21 on 1/13/25 against the Spurs."
The jersey retirement follows Cooper’s induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024, a testament to everything he did and achieved as part of a 12-year stint with the Lakers.
Cooper averaged 8.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists over his Lakers career, leaving the NBA as a one-club man as he spent his entire career in the league with the Lakers from 1978 to 1990. He won Defensive Player of the Year in 1987 and is remembered as one of the best wing defenders the league has ever seen. He won five championships on the Lakers alongside Magic Johnson .
Everyone talks about the Magic-Kareem duo but Cooper's bond and partnership with Magic is often forgotten. Their careers almost entirely overlapped on the Lakers as they learned to be winners together. It's a deserving honor for Cooper, who will finally get the full recognition his NBA career deserves as a member of the Hall of Fame and with his jersey hanging in the rafter for the Lakers.
Michael Cooper Is An Active Media Voice
Cooper's first post-retirement contribution to the game came as a coach, as he joined the Los Angeles Sparks as an assistant in 1994 before working his way up to the head coaching role and winning two titles for the Sparks. Nowadays, he primarily focuses on coaching college basketball, currently serving as the assistant head coach for NCAA D2 school California State.
Cooper is an active media contributor with his own podcast, where he shares candid takes about players around the NBA. He recently criticized Luka Doncic for being slow, lazy, and not making an effort on defense .
“Luka gives you that triple-double almost any night, but he's too slow for me. If he wasn't a scorer, I would cut him. But he can score, you got to give the guy credit. To me, he is lazy, doesn't hustle back on defense."
Naturally, Cooper keeps a close eye on his Lakers , recently comparing LeBron James , who is heading into his 22nd season, to the same version of Magic, who returned from retirement in 1995.
“He reminds me of Magic when he came back from retirement. LeBron still has athleticism but is not at the level we’re used to seeing. But he still has the knowledge and smarts,"
His contributions to basketball discourse as an analyst have been significant, but it's time to appreciate Cooper for the player he was. Thankfully, it seems the Lakers will make sure it's a memorable ceremony for Cooper and his family.
Related: Michael Cooper Shares Crazy Story Of The Time Magic Johnson Almost Quit The Lakers
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