Cooper Steps In to Coach Nuggets

Michael Cooper, who carved out a reputation as a defense-first player with the Lakers and built a coaching resume of success with the WNBA’s Sparks, has been handed the opportunity to answer mile-high expectations as a head coach in Denver.

Cooper became the Nuggets’ interim coach Tuesday, replacing the fired Jeff Bzdelik, who could not pump enough victories out of a team expected to be among the best of the Western Conference before the season began.

Cooper, a member of the NBA’s all-defensive team eight times in 12 seasons with the Lakers, made no secret of the need to get the Nuggets to play better on the defensive end.

“Defense, to me, wins championships. Offense wins games,” Cooper said.

Bzdelik, 73-119 in a little more than two seasons as the Nuggets’ coach, took Denver to its first playoff appearance in 10 years, a feat that led to increased expectations this season after All-Star power forward Kenyon Martin was acquired from New Jersey.

The Nuggets started off 1-4, including a season-opening 89-78 loss to the Lakers, and there was speculation from the start that Bzdelik’s job was in jeopardy. Bzdelik’s last game turned out to be an uninspiring 104-101 loss Monday to the Golden State Warriors, a loss that dropped Denver’s record to 13-15.

Denver has lost six consecutive games, giving Cooper, 48, plenty of work in the days ahead.

“Coop is one tough son of a gun,” said Laker radio color commentator Mychal Thompson, a teammate of Cooper from 1987 to ’91. “Michael Jordan’s got nothing on Coop when it comes to competing and wanting to be a winner. When he comes in there, his words will carry all the weight in the world because Kenyon Martin, Marcus Camby, Andre Miller, Carmelo Anthony, all those guys grew up watching him.”

Anthony, one of the league’s top young offensive players, has struggled defensively, a contributing factor in the Nuggets’ allowing 97.4 points per game, 17th in the league.

“Carmelo is a gifted athlete, but it’s getting him to play on both ends of the floor,” Cooper said. “I keep telling him that there are other things than just shooting the basketball. I told him Michael Jordan didn’t really become Michael Jordan until he started making all those first-team, all-defense teams.”

It all seems OK with Anthony.

“We know what kind of person he is,” Anthony said. “Coach Coop has the swagger. He walks with swagger.”

Cooper has long been on the radar of Denver General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe, who lured Cooper away from the Sparks in July with a three-year contract as an assistant coach.

In four-plus years with the Sparks, Cooper was 116-31 in the regular season and coached the Sparks to four playoff appearances, including championships in 2001 and 2002.

“I would not be surprised if he did very well,” said Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak, a teammate of Cooper from 1981 to ’86. “As you know, he had great success here with the Sparks. He was a player that had natural ability, but he did it through hard work and being receptive to coaching.

“He’ll be up, and he’ll be full of energy. He’ll listen, and he’ll have something to say. He’ll be bouncing up and down the sidelines. He’ll be animated in practice.”

Cooper played at Pasadena High and New Mexico before being selected by the Lakers in the third round of the 1978 draft. Cooper ultimately became one of the league’s top defensive players and also added to the Lakers’ Showtime teams with the “Coop-a-Loop,” an alley-oop play that took advantage of Cooper’s jumping ability, rumored to be good enough to allow him to touch the top of the backboard.

“Michael’s one of the good guys in the NBA, and always has been ever since he was a player,” said Johnny Buss, president of the Sparks. “It was only a matter of time before somebody would give him a shot.”