Former Pasadena High School basketball standout and NBA Hall of Famer Michael Cooper was introduced Wednesday as Cal State Los Angeles men’s basketball coach after being an associate coach since 2023.
Cooper succeeds Jim Saia, who had announced the 2025-26 season would be his last with the Golden Eagles. Saia had a 121-134 record in 10 seasons, including a 9-18 record this season.
The Lakers drafted Cooper in the third round of the 1978 NBA draft, the 60th overall selection, out of New Mexico after playing at Pasadena High School and PCC. However, he played just three games as a rookie in the 1978-79 season because of a knee injury sustained while playing in the Southern California Summer Pro Basketball League.
Cooper, who turns 70 next Wednesday, began his coaching career in 1994 as an assistant coach with the Lakers, remaining in the position through 1996.
He became an assistant coach with the Sparks in 1999 and their coach the following season.
He was selected as the WNBA’s Coach of the Year in 2000 and coached the Sparks to championships in 2001 and 2002.
Cooper left the Sparks in 2024 to become an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets. He was their interim head coach for a 14-game stint in the 2004-05 season.
Cooper coached the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the NBA’s D-League from 2005-07, leading them to a championship in 2006, and returned to coach the Sparks again from 2007-09.
He coached the USC women’s basketball team from 2009-13 and the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream from 2014-17.
Cooper coached the boys’ basketball teams at Chadwick School on the Palos Verdes Peninsula from 2019-21 and Culver City High School from 2021-23.
Although he rarely started during his 12-season NBA career, all with the Lakers, Cooper was considered a defensive stalwart. Former Boston Celtic Larry Bird called Cooper the best defensive player he ever faced.
The Lakers and the Celtics competed for the NBA championship three times in the 1980s.
Cooper was selected to the NBA’s all-defensive first team five times, and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1987.
Cooper made 94 regular-season starts over the final nine seasons of his career. The NBA began keeping track of games started in the 1981-82 season.
The 6-foot-7-inch, 170-pound Cooper was known for his tenacious defense, usually drawing the opponent’s toughest scorer.
Cooper, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were the only players to play on all five of the Lakers’ 1980s championship teams. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2024.
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