Cooper tries a WNBA rerun
This is not how Michael Cooper planned it.
The former Laker, boasting a resume dotted with championships and wearing his ambition on his sleeve, did not expect to be back coaching the Sparks.
Not now.
Maybe not ever again.
When he bolted the WNBA team midway through the 2004 season to accept a three-year contract as a Denver Nuggets assistant, Cooper believed that landing his dream job -- NBA head coach -- was only a matter of time.
But then the Nuggets, amid great expectations in Carmelo Anthony’s second NBA season, stumbled under coach Jeff Bzdelik. Bzdelik was fired, Cooper was named interim coach and the lifeless Nuggets struggled anew.
Fourteen games into his interim assignment, Cooper was replaced by George Karl, who kept him on staff for about a month, then dumped him.
Cooper, demoted to scout, accepted a buyout of his contract.
Back at square one, he coached two seasons in the NBA Development League, guiding the Albuquerque Thunderbirds to the league title a year ago, and last month the most successful coach in Sparks history turned up in L.A. again.
“This is the opportunity that presented itself, and I wasn’t afraid to walk through the door and come back here,” said Cooper, whose second tenure with the franchise he piloted to WNBA championships in 2001 and 2002 officially kicks off tonight, when the Sparks open their 11th season with a game at Chicago. “I don’t see it as anything other than continuing to be a head coach.
“It’s going to be a challenge, and it’s going to be fun.”
When he left three years ago, Cooper, 51, wouldn’t rule out returning -- “I never said never,” he said -- but, of course, he didn’t expect to be back so soon.
The Sparks’ new owners are delighted to have him. Kathy Goodman and Carla Christofferson, who led an investment group that bought the team from Lakers owner Jerry Buss in December, are longtime Sparks season-ticket holders who fondly remember Cooper leading the Sparks to a 116-31 record in four-plus seasons.
Though the Sparks’ 25-9 record last season was the best in the Western Conference, the new owners didn’t hesitate in dumping former coach Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, who also coaches in a men’s league in Japan. They did it, they said, not because the team failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs last season but because they wanted a coach who would make a year-round commitment to the Sparks.
“And because Michael Cooper is such an amazing coach,” Christofferson added. “He knows how to win, and he knows how to win championships. We were thrilled that he came back to join us and couldn’t be happier to have him.”
Cooper’s one-year contract includes options for two more seasons, Christofferson said, and includes an opt-out clause, Cooper said, in case the NBA calls again.
The former Pasadena High star, who helped the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s win five NBA titles as a high-flying dunker and indomitable defensive ace, is confident that he’ll get another chance to coach in the NBA.
“Hopefully sooner rather than later,” he said.
Of his experience in Denver, Cooper said: “I was there as an assistant coach, I was doing my job and the way things happened, they happened. I didn’t look at it as a bad experience. I got a lot of good out of it.”
Namely, he said of his short time in charge, “In that little fleeting moment, I got an opportunity to know that I can coach on the NBA level.”
But interim coaches, of course, are like substitute teachers: easy to tune out and often ineffectual because of it.
“You haven’t really been given the job,” Cooper said, “and you’re really just there to fill the void for a moment.”
When Bzdelik was fired, the Nuggets were 13-15. Under Cooper, they were 4-10. And under Karl, they finished the season with a 32-8 rush.
“I don’t think I got a fair shot,” Cooper said, “but I’m not whining about that. I got a shot. They could have gone in a different direction.”
A short time later, Cooper’s career took a turn of its own when he terminated his scouting duties with the Nuggets, leading him to Albuquerque.
“I’m a coach,” he said. “I like coaching. I’ve done the scouting part. Not to say that I’m too big to do that, but a coach is what I want to become and in order for you to become a good coach you have to continue down that path.”
Cooper was a folk hero in Albuquerque, where he played two seasons at New Mexico, but the lure of returning home led him back to the Sparks.
“I wanted to be closer to my kids out here,” said the divorced father of four, whose oldest is 24. “I’ve always loved L.A. I’m not afraid to go anywhere to coach, but this is the best opportunity right now for me, and it’s a great challenge.”
The Sparks’ best player, three-time WNBA most valuable player Lisa Leslie, is due to give birth next month and is expected to sit out most of the season, if not all of it, but Cooper is determined to deliver a winner.
“To win a championship,” he said of his goal. “Bottom line.”
Taj McWilliams-Franklin, acquired in a trade with the Connecticut Sun after Leslie’s pregnancy was announced, is intrigued by her effervescent coach.
“He’s got loads of energy, and it’s infectious,” the veteran post player said. “I think the style that he played is also the style that he coaches. He wants you to go give everything you have while you’re out there.
“And we’re here to win a championship -- make no doubt about it, no bones. He comes in here and says the same thing to us every day.”
Winning, of course, could bring another call from the NBA.
Cooper will be waiting.
“Patience is what I’ve always been about, and things have always come to me at the right time,” he said. “I think a head coaching opportunity will present itself soon.”
In the meantime, he’s got a WNBA team to coach.
SPARKS TONIGHT
vs. Chicago, 5
Site -- UIC Pavilion.
Radio -- 1150 (7 p.m.)
Records -- Sparks 0-0, Sky 0-1.
Record vs. Sky (2006) -- 2-0.
Update -- The Sparks, the last WNBA team to open the season, kick off a three-game trip against a club that was 5-29 as an expansion team a year ago. Since then, the Sky has hired Bo Overton to replace resigned coach Dave Cowens, chosen Monique Currie in the Charlotte dispersal draft and selected former Mississippi All-American Armintie Price as its No. 1 pick in the rookie draft. Still, Chicago lost its opener Sunday, 83-71, at New York.
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Sparks 2007 roster
No. PLAYER; P; HT; YR; AGE; JERRY CROWE’S COMMENT
5. MARTA FERNANDEZ ; F ; 5-11; R; 26; Spaniard and WNBA rookie was Spanish league MVP last year.
1. CHAMIQUE HOLDSCLAW ; F-G ; 6-2; 8; 29; Veteran forward expected to be utilized a lot at point guard this year.
2. TEMEKA JOHNSON ; G ; 5-3; 2; 24; Knee surgery has sidelined ’05 rookie of the year until next month.
9. LISA LESLIE ; C ; 6-5; 10; 34; Three-time MVP eyes August return; baby is due in June.
4. MWADI MABIKA ; F ; 5-11; 10; 30; Looks to be in best shape since championship seasons of ‘01, ’02.
3. TAJ McWILLIAMS-FRANKLIN ; F-C ; 6-2; 8; 36; Off-season acquisition provides inside post presence, leadership.
31. JESSICA MOORE ; C ; 6-3; 2; 24; Former Connecticut center was a starter in 33 of 34 games last year.
00. MURRIEL PAGE ; C ; 6-2; 9; 31; Backup center averaged 4.9 points in first season with Sparks.
6. SIDNEY SPENCER ; F ; 6-3; R; 22; Shot 40.1% from beyond arc in helping Tennessee win NCAA title.
32. CHRISTI THOMAS ; F ; 6-3; 3; 24; Sparks looking for breakout season from former Georgia star.
21. LaTOYA THOMAS ; F ; 6-2; 4; 25; Sparks expecting a lot from No. 1 overall pick in ’03 draft.
40. LISA WILLIS ; G ; 5-11; 1; 22; Sat out exhibition season after surgery on left pinkie.
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* HEAD COACH: Michael Cooper. Assistant coaches: Michael Abraham, Margaret Mohr. Athletic trainer: Marco Nunez.