Former PHS Star, Laker Guard Michael Cooper Selected as Basketball Hall of Fame Finalist

Former Pasadena High School star and Los Angeles Lakers guard Michael Cooper was among the 11 finalists announced Friday for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Cooper was also selected to be a finalist in 2021.

A finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Despite playing behind Bryon Scott most of his career, the 6-foot-5- inch Cooper was a five-time first-team NBA All-Defensive Team selection, a two-time second-team selection and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 1986-87 season.

Cooper, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were the only Lakers to play on all five of their championship teams in the 1980s.

Cooper played at Pasadena High School before playing at the University of New Mexico. He was chosen by the Lakers in the third round of the 1978 NBA draft, the 60th overall selection.

The Hall of Fame’s 2022 class will be announced April 2