Showtime Laker Michael Cooper’s Hall of Fame induction: How to watch

Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Michael Cooper will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday, Oct. 13, 34 years after his NBA playing career ended. Cooper, who won five NBA championships as part of the “Showtime Lakers,” is one of four players in the Class of 2024 Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony will be broadcast on NBA TV. The ceremony will also be available to stream on the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame YouTube channel – @Officialhoopshall. The Class of 2024 will participate in events on Saturday, October 12 and Sunday, October 13, but the official ceremony will take place on October 13 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The inauguration ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in August, but was largely postponed until October due to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Cooper was the No. 60 pick in the 1978 NBA draft and spent his entire NBA career with the Lakers from 1978-90. He helped the Showtime Lakers win five NBA championships in the 1980s and played a crucial role in those titles behind Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Cooper was best known for his defense and even won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1987. Boston Celtics Hall of Famer Larry Bird even called Cooper the best defenseman he ever faced. Cooper was named NBA All-Defensive First Team five times and Second Team three times during his career. He averaged 8.9 points, 4.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game.

After leaving the NBA, Cooper played basketball in Italy for a year before turning to coaching. He worked as an assistant coach for the Lakers from 1994 to 1996 before joining the Los Angeles Sparks. Cooper led the Sparks to two WNBA championships as the team’s head coach.

Cooper is one of 13 members of the Class of 2024. He joins Chauncey Billups, Vince Young, Walter Davis, Bo Ryan, Charles Smith, Seimone Augustus, Dick Barnett, Harley Redin, Michele Timms, Doug Collins, Jerry West and Herb Simon in the Class of 2024. This is West’s third Hall of Fame induction, joining this class as an executive.

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