Basketball Hall of Fame Nominations for Two Showtime Lakers Legends

 

In addition to Pau Gasol, two more Los Angeles Lakers superstars from the team’s illustrious Showtime period, defensive stalwart Michael Cooper and former head coach Paul Westhead be eligible for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF 2023.

 

Since 2020, Michael Cooper has received three Hall of Fame nominations. The 6’7″ shooting guard, who was the defensive player of the year in 1987 (but was never an All-Star), was a vital member of each of the Showtime Lakers’ five 1980s championship teams. Coop was a five-time All-Defensive First Team selection and a three-time All-Defensive Second Team member. His tight wing defense proved crucial for Los Angeles and was praised by the rest of the league. Out of the University of New Mexico, Cooper was selected with 60th overall choice in the 1978 NBA Draft and played all 12 seasons in Los Angeles.

 

 

Despite being nominated as a player, Cooper has subsequently established himself as a significant head coach in his own right. He worked as a Lakers assistant coach from 1994 to 1996 before switching to the WNBA, where he led the Los Angeles Sparks to back-to-back league championships in 2001 and 2002. He also led the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, a D League team that is now the Cleveland Charge, an NBAGL affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, to a championship. Cooper has also coached the USC women’s basketball team, the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA, the Denver Nuggets as an assistant coach and momentarily as interim head coach, and now high school teams in the greater Los Angeles region.

 

Paul Westhead was first hired as the sole assistant coach on Jack McKinney’s staff for the 1979–80 season, the first year of both Dr. Jerry Buss’s and Magic Johnson’s L.A., after leading the men’s basketball team at La Salle University for nine seasons from 1970–79. tenure.

 

Westhead took over as the team’s head coach after McKinney was unconscious in a severe bicycle accident. The group finished with a 60-22 record and a six-game NBA Finals victory over Julius Irving and the rest of the Philadelphia 76ers. L.A. Eventually fired Westhead after just 11 games of the 1981–82 season (the Lakers were off to a respectable 7–4 start), bringing in Pat Riley, a former part player for the Lakers, as his assistant coach. Riley ended up becoming reasonably good.

 

Westhead, 83, went on to have a successful head coaching career that included the NBA, collegiate basketball, the WNBA, Japan, and the NBA G League (formerly the D-League). Later, Westhead served as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Denver Nuggets and the assistant coach of the Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic, and Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma City Thunder. He led the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA from 2006 to 2007, and in his second season, the team won a championship. In college, he held positions at George Mason University, the University of Oregon, and Loyola Marymount between 1985 and 1990.

 

Despite nominations, Cooper and Westhead have yet to be chosen for the Hall of Fame. With his international trailblazing, Pau Gasol has the credentials to be a first-ballot selection in the NBA. Cooper and Westhead may not eventually cut, but acknowledging them in this initial group is encouraging.

 

Basketball Hall of Fame Nominations for Two Showtime Lakers Legends

 

In addition to Pau Gasol, two more Los Angeles Lakers superstars from the team’s illustrious Showtime period, defensive stalwart Michael Cooper and former head coach Paul Westhead be eligible for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF 2023.

 

Since 2020, Michael Cooper has received three Hall of Fame nominations. The 6’7″ shooting guard, who was the defensive player of the year in 1987 (but was never an All-Star), was a vital member of each of the Showtime Lakers’ five 1980s championship teams. Coop was a five-time All-Defensive First Team selection and a three-time All-Defensive Second Team member. His tight wing defense proved crucial for Los Angeles and was praised by the rest of the league. Out of the University of New Mexico, Cooper was selected with 60th overall choice in the 1978 NBA Draft and played all 12 seasons in Los Angeles.

 

 

Despite being nominated as a player, Cooper has subsequently established himself as a significant head coach in his own right. He worked as a Lakers assistant coach from 1994 to 1996 before switching to the WNBA, where he led the Los Angeles Sparks to back-to-back league championships in 2001 and 2002. He also led the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, a D League team that is now the Cleveland Charge, an NBAGL affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, to a championship. Cooper has also coached the USC women’s basketball team, the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA, the Denver Nuggets as an assistant coach and momentarily as interim head coach, and now high school teams in the greater Los Angeles region.

 

Paul Westhead was first hired as the sole assistant coach on Jack McKinney’s staff for the 1979–80 season, the first year of both Dr. Jerry Buss’s and Magic Johnson’s L.A., after leading the men’s basketball team at La Salle University for nine seasons from 1970–79. tenure.

 

Westhead took over as the team’s head coach after McKinney was unconscious in a severe bicycle accident. The group finished with a 60-22 record and a six-game NBA Finals victory over Julius Irving and the rest of the Philadelphia 76ers. L.A. Eventually fired Westhead after just 11 games of the 1981–82 season (the Lakers were off to a respectable 7–4 start), bringing in Pat Riley, a former part player for the Lakers, as his assistant coach. Riley ended up becoming reasonably good.

 

Westhead, 83, went on to have a successful head coaching career that included the NBA, collegiate basketball, the WNBA, Japan, and the NBA G League (formerly the D-League). Later, Westhead served as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Denver Nuggets and the assistant coach of the Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic, and Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma City Thunder. He led the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA from 2006 to 2007, and in his second season, the team won a championship. In college, he held positions at George Mason University, the University of Oregon, and Loyola Marymount between 1985 and 1990.

 

Despite nominations, Cooper and Westhead have yet to be chosen for the Hall of Fame. With his international trailblazing, Pau Gasol has the credentials to be a first-ballot selection in the NBA. Cooper and Westhead may not eventually cut, but acknowledging them in this initial group is encouraging.