After years of waiting and hoping for the chance to enter the Basketball Hall of Fame and see his No. 21 jersey hanging in the rafters of Crypto.com Arena, the five-time NBA champion and Los Angeles Lakers legend finally got his wish. The storied franchise is set to retire his jersey on January 13, when the team hosts the San Antonio Spurs, during the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season.
Cooper has always been considered one of the greatest Lakers players of the past, especially during his Showtime days playing alongside Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but being inducted into the Hall of Fame is something that has eluded him until now.
With Lakers officials having strict criteria for retiring the jerseys of past stars, Cooper only needed to get the green light to be dubbed a Hall of Famer before Jeanie Buss and company could give the green light for his jersey to be immortalized while joining his former teammates and other Lakers legends like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and even broadcaster Chick Hearn.
After letting all of this sink in, which will officially be remembered at the Crypto.com Arena, Cooper headed off on his The Showtime Podcast with Coop to express how he feels about this honor and who he would like to see present on January 13.
“Kobe would be another player I would have liked to have had there, because it’s kind of like he’s not here anymore, but it’s 2024,” Cooper said. “It’s one of his jersey numbers, 24 and 8. I think that’s something that’s synonymous with the Lakers, what’s going on with the young man that I was fortunate enough to be around. I worked with that kid and I told everybody, Jerry and them said, ‘What do you think, Cooper?’ I said, ‘He gets it.’ So Kobe would be a player I would have liked to have had there, I forget about him.”
Bryant made his most famous first impression on the Lakers franchise during a pre-draft workout in which then-general manager Jerry West brought Cooper in to play defense on the young kid straight out of high school to see if he could play against someone who was an elite defender in his prime with the team.
The workout became a legendary story. West and Cooper were blown away by what they saw from Bryant, leading the team to trade Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets to acquire the kid from Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia.
Bryant followed in Cooper’s footsteps, winning five NBA titles with the Lakers and becoming an elite defender in his own right. However, he went a step further, building an incredible career that many consider to be one of the greatest in league history.
Michael Cooper’s jersey to be retired for 2024-25 NBA season
The Los Angeles Lakers have announced that Michael Cooper’s No. 21 jersey will be retired when the team hosts Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. at the Crypto.com Arena on January 13th during the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season.
It’s a highly anticipated honor for the Hall of Famer, who will join his former Showtime Lakers teammates and other legends who have played for the organization throughout its storied history.
