Lakers great Michael Cooper takes over Cal State LA’s men’s basketball, aims to build championship culture

Michael Cooper perfectly embodies Cal State LA's "We Are LA" ethos.

After all, he was born in Los Angeles, attended high school and junior college locally, played his entire NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and coached the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and the USC women's basketball team.

On Wednesday, April 8, Cal State LA introduced "Coop" as the 14th head coach of the Golden Eagles men's basketball team during a press conference at the University Gym. Former "Showtime" Lakers players A.C. Green, Norm Nixon, and Byron Scott were among the special guests to show their support for Cooper.

"Our mission at Cal State LA is to build leaders, build belief, and show what Cal State LA stands for," Cooper said. "Cal State LA represents the heart of this great city with its hard-working, diverse, and ambitious student athletes. We're going to build a program that will make the university proud of us."

Cooper is already well-versed on the Golden Eagles, having served as associate head coach on the 2023-24 team that won the program's first California Collegiate Athletic Association championship.

A consummate winner, Cooper also captured five NBA championships as a player and three as a head coach-two with the Sparks and one with the NBA G League's Albuquerque Thunderbirds.

Daryl Gross, executive director for intercollegiate athletics, said the decision to promote Cooper to head coach following Jim Saia's retirement was an easy one.

"We have a guy who has a lot of experience, who has a strong legacy," Gross said. "He's an inspirer, he's a motivator. You can see just how infectious he is with the kids on the campus and our student athletes. He is a gold mine that fell into our laps."

Saia, who led the Golden Eagles for 10 seasons, said the transition between him and Cooper should be seamless.

"Coop was with me for three years, providing his wisdom and knowledge," Saia said. "We won a championship here, and we got the program to a certain level, and Michael Cooper will take it to yet another level. He is LA, and he's basketball royalty. I'm excited about now being just a fan of the program."

The relationships that Cooper has built in and around Los Angeles over decades should benefit the program in recruiting and fundraising.

"We need to raise money for our programs," Cooper said. "We need to get in the community and build relationships, get more fans in the stands, and create more awareness for Cal State LA."

During the Q&A segment of the press conference, retired Laker Green took the mic and asked what he and other Lakers could do to support Cooper in his new role.

"Open your pocketbook," Cooper quickly responded.

Cooper is one of the most recognizable figures on campus. At 6-foot-7, he is hard to miss.

And he has embraced his time at Cal State LA.

In 2025, Cooper was part of the Cal State LA group that participated in the annual Kingdom Day Parade, sitting high in the back of a convertible alongside Cal State LA President Berenecea Johnson Eanes. The vehicle could barely go a few feet without members of the crowd chanting "Coop!" or running up to the car for a quick selfie.

"Nobody knew who I was," Johnson said, "but everybody in LA knows who Coop was, for many reasons. Everybody along the parade route was saying, 'Coop! Coop! Coop!', out of love and recognition, and not just Laker recognition. It's very rare that you meet an authentic leader. To be authentic is to be grounded. To be authentic is to be genuine. To be authentic is to be dedicated. To be authentic is to be Michael Cooper."

Cooper was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024, and the Lakers retired his No. 21 jersey the following year.

He attended Pasadena High School and began his college career at Pasadena City College before transferring to New Mexico for the 1976-78 seasons. In his senior season, Cooper led the Lobos to the Western Athletic Conference title.

The Lakers chose him in the third round, 60th overall, of the 1978 NBA Draft. He was one of only three players, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, to be part of all five of the Lakers' championships during the team's dynastic run in the 1980s.

Cooper built his reputation as the Lakers' defensive stopper, usually guarding the best offensive player from the opposition. In his 12-year NBA career, Cooper was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team eight times-five on the first team and three on the second team-and captured the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1987.

Larry Bird, a rival with the Boston Celtics and one of the NBA's all-time elite offensive players, acknowledged Cooper as the best defender he faced.

Offensively, the versatile Cooper played shooting guard, point guard, and small forward. He averaged 8.9 points, 4.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks for his NBA career.

Not surprisingly, Cooper wants to shape the Golden Eagles into an elite defensive team.

"Obviously, his resume speaks for itself," said junior guard Khemanni Davis. "It's going to be an honor to play for a Hall of Famer and just be able to pick his brain."

Cooper transitioned into coaching following his stellar playing career. He began as an assistant with the Lakers and the Sparks in the 1990s before taking over as the Sparks' head coach in 2000.

He was named WNBA Coach of the Year in his first season and then led the Sparks to back-to-back WNBA championships in 2001 and 2002.

In 2006, he led the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, now the Cleveland Charge, to the franchise's only G League title.

Cooper had two stints with the Sparks, from 2000 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2009, and was also head coach of the Atlanta Dream from 2014 to 2017. He compiled a 230-158 record over 12 seasons in the WNBA with two championships, a runner-up finish, and three other conference finals appearances.

He also served as an assistant and interim head coach with the Denver Nuggets from 2004 to 2005, and as head coach of the USC women's team from 2009 to 2013, as well as a couple of area high schools.

His long head coaching resume included every level of basketball except Division II, which Cal State LA will now fill. Cooper said Cal State LA will be his final coaching stop.

Cooper listed the "Five D's" that guide his coaching philosophy: determination, dedication, desire, discipline, and decision-making.

"Those can apply to anything you do in your athletic endeavors," he said, "but you can make those Five D's work for you off the court-in your everyday life, in your religious life, anything you want to be successful in. Those are the principles we will build our team with, but it's also the foundation that extends into community."

California State University, Los Angeles is the premier comprehensive public university in the heart of Los Angeles. Cal State LA is ranked number one in the United States for the upward mobility of its students. Cal State LA is dedicated to engagement, service, and the public good, offering nationally recognized programs in science, the arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education, and the humanities. Founded in 1947, the University serves more than 22,000 students and has more than 260,000 distinguished alumni.