The Klimb with Adrian Branch

Winning Intangibles For Your Life with Michael Cooper

• Adrian Branch • Season 1 • Episode 11

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What if the thing that sets you apart isn’t your stat line but your courage to choose a role and master it? That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with basketball Hall of Famer Michael Cooper—5x NBA champion, 1987 Defensive Player of the Year, and title-winning coach in the WNBA, G League, and Big 3—who turned blunt advice into a blueprint for winning on and off the court.

We trace Coop’s path from a childhood injury that threatened his ability to walk to a career built on defense, discipline, and purpose. Shortly after joining the Lakers in 1979, legendary team executive Jerry West told him there weren’t enough basketballs to go around, so Cooper adaptated his mindset and found another niche: to lock people up, think the game, and raise the team’s energy. He takes us back to the 1987 season, where his expanded offensive game caught up to his stellar defense and when his Walter J. Kennedy Citizenship Award honored a school attendance program that lifted local communities. The theme behind Coop's success is consistent: do the work, serve the team, and give back more than you take.

Coop also breaks down his 5 D’s—determination, dedication, desire, discipline, and decision making—and shows how they can apply across various fields in life. He shares how his coaching principles mirrored fellow Hall of Famer Pat Riley’s standards, and how he developed his players with honest feedback built on trust. We also revisit Coop's legendary pre-draft workout with a high school phenom named Kobe Bryant, and the passion and professionalism that hinted at the Mamba Mentality years before the rest of the world saw it.

This is a masterclass in coachability and role clarity, filled with stories that double as playbooks: how to build niches, how to align talent with responsibility, and how to let values steer your ambition. If you’re climbing in sports, business, or life, you’ll leave with an inspired mindset you can act on today—and an affirmation worth repeating: “I think, therefore I can.”

If this conversation hits home, follow the show across our online platforms, share it with a friend who needs a push, and leave a review to help more climbers find us.

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Welcome And Cooper’s Introduction

SPEAKER_01

Hi, I'm Adrian Brant, former pro athlete, turn motivational speaker and certified life coach, and welcome to The Climb, a show where we celebrate the stories of resilient people sharing how they turned adversity into success. From the business sector to athletes and beyond, be inspired and learn what it takes to climb. Hey, hey everybody, how you doing? Adrian Branch here and welcome to another episode of The Climb, a story like you heard in the opening that celebrates the resilience of men and women and how they overcome. What was their thought process? What was their self-talk? What was their secret sauce and the secret to their success? We want you to come away from this show saying, if they can do it, I can do it too. If they can overcome, I can overcome as well. Well, today you're going to be so impressed with this guy. He's a champion's champion. He's a mentor to me. He's a big brother. He's a five-time world champion. He's an eight-time all-defensive player. He's one of the glue guys and staples to the 1980s Showtime team. And it's a privilege you're going to identify with so many verticals of his life as a player, as a coach, and a champion on and off the court. So, folks, I want you to welcome my beloved Michael Cooper to the show. Cooper Loop. Hey, how are you doing? Doing well, man. Doing well. Thanks for hanging with us. It is a privilege. You know, you've covered a lot of ground since the last time I saw you two years ago at the Big Three Hall of Fame. And then when you're coaching your college team, Cal State LA, you guys went to the tournament for the first time in 20 years. So you've been a busy person on and off the court.

SPEAKER_02

Well, you know what? I enjoy uh giving back to the game of basketball. Coaching at Cal State LA is uh I'm an assistant coach there and uh just kind of like mentor the young people and kind of give them some of the little knowledge I have uh to help them further uh their uh professional aspirations, whether it be overseas, in the NBA, or in the

Childhood Injury And Early Resilience

SPEAKER_02

G League.

SPEAKER_01

Well, it's interesting. I want to go back uh and take you back to when you were three years old because you have an amazing story that they thought you'd never walk again because of a knee injury. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_02

You know, AB, as a young person growing up, uh, you know, back in those days in the 60s, um uh my grandmother used to take uh the Folger's coffee cans.

SPEAKER_00

Sure.

SPEAKER_02

And uh they'd cut the top of them off and the bacon grease, chicken grease, they would pour that in the coffee can and sit it outside the back door. Well, our our German shepherd, Lucy, had puppies, and we were all excited about that. And this Saturday morning, the puppies were born, so they had come up on the porch and had knocked the uh the can over, and my grandmother didn't cut the lid all the way off. She left the lid on, and I slipped on that man, you know, being real skinny. I fell right in that corner where the lid was attached and cut my knee all the way to the bone. Uh again, I all I remember about is just the pain that I was going through. But that night after the surgery and everything, they told me my grandmother had she had to keep me up all night. And uh they told my grandmother, well, you know what, we've attached his leg back, but he may never walk again.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_02

And through the grace of God, my grandmother being very religious, and she prayed for me all night. I remember that and holding me. And as the days went on and turned into years, I slowly started being able to use my leg again. I started to walk again, and uh through, like I said, the grace of God, I was able to play basketball again.

SPEAKER_01

Now, it's interesting because where you are now as a celebrated Hall of Famer, uh, congratulations on that. I'm smiling from ear to ear, my teammate again. But there was a time where many people thought you were the horse nobody bet on. And in fact, in your Hall of Fame speech, it was a good little chuckle. You said you've done something that the great Michael Jordan didn't do. You got cut two times from your high school team. So tell us how that

Cut Twice And Finding Defense

SPEAKER_01

came and then how you went to the local community college.

SPEAKER_02

Well, you know what? Uh, coming up through high school and trying to play basketball, I was always a skinny kid. And I wasn't um, I was just very athletic, but I wasn't that basketball player yet. So trying out for the team in the ninth grade uh got cut. Then trying out in the tenth grade, I got cut again, and finally I went out for the 11th grade team and I finally made the team. So uh I don't know if that's a badge of honor or anything, because nobody likes to be cut. You kind of want to just go through the process of playing at each level from freshman, sophomore to JV and varsity, but I was tall, so I had that opportunity to play varsity early, and just glad that I made it. Um, you know, once I was able to get in there, I kind of found my niche. And I was very blessed and fortunate to have a good uh high school coach and George Turgeon, who taught the fundamentals of playing defense.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, now that's interesting because you said you went right there from Pasadena High School to Pasadena City College, but if it was good enough for two legends, it was good enough for you. Tell us who those legends were.

SPEAKER_02

Well, one was uh Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson's from there, and uh the other one was the great Jesse Owens, and Jesse Owens was a track runner at Pasadena City College. So I was following in some giant great footsteps. So, you know, uh, but my my path there was kind of rocky too, because as everybody was getting scholarships to go to the University of UCLA, North Carolina, Maryland, wherever, I was messing around and didn't have the grades to go on and do that. So that was kind of like my choice by default. And I'm kind of glad I did because it was a wake-up call for me to get to, instead of being an athlete student, I became a student athlete.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I like that.

SPEAKER_02

That second half of that year, and then my sophomore year, I never forgot what it was about. I was there to go to school to be a good student, and then basketball was second, and that's where the University of New Mexico found me.

SPEAKER_01

That's interesting. I I love that one, Coop. I had the privilege of what I'm doing now is speaking to a lot of universities

PCC To UNM: Student First

SPEAKER_01

and speaking to the college kids. And I love that one where you weren't an athlete student, you were a student athlete. Then it's interesting. You had success at Albuquerque, then you finished University in New Mexico in Albuquerque, then you were drafted third round, 60th pick by our general manager, Jerry West. Now, for the listeners out there, I'm gonna park it there for a second because Jerry West, Hall of Fame player in every single NBA jersey, has his silhouette, has his silhouette of him on the jersey. And he was a Hall of Fame player and then became a Hall of Fame administrator. So he saw something in Coop. And Coop, tell us about what he said when that helped you in the legacy that you have been acknowledged for.

SPEAKER_02

Well, you know what? I ended up with the Lakers. So I'm going to training camp over at Loyola Marymount. That's where we had the training camp at with the Lakers in 1979. And I walk in the gym and I see Karim Abdul Jabbar, uh, Jamal Wilkes, and Norm Nixon. And you gotta remember, those were their three horses back then. So as I go in there, he walks up to me, he goes, Hey, Michael, congratulations, glad you're here. He says, I don't have enough basketballs for you, so you got to find another niche. You got to play some defense. So I didn't have enough shots. There weren't enough shots for me to go around, so that kind of like gave me, uh grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me a good shaking and let me know that it's about defense. And I'm glad I did because again, that's kind of like my stronghold, and that's what kept me in the league and on the Lakers.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna come back to that story because there's a teachable moment big time, and it's really, really personal for me. But I'm gonna come back to that moment when he said it's not enough basketballs. I want you to play defense. So you go through and you're making it happen. You're winning championships, and you won five championships

Drafted By Jerry West’s Lakers

SPEAKER_01

in the 80s, uh, and went to the finals, what, 12 out of 9 out of 12? What was that, Coop? You guys went to the finals in your ear with Magic and Kareem as you guys as the staples. It was 12 finals, I believe, and you won five of them. But this was the interesting thing. I love this one. The year you and I were together, 1987, I was a rookie, you were my veteran, and I'm learning from you guys, but it was a special time for you because you also had defensive player of the year and you won something off the court as well. Tell us about that 87 year and how special it was for you.

SPEAKER_02

Well, that was a very special year because that was the one year that I really kind of like uh focused in on my offense a little bit. You know, AB, when I got there, people used to back off of me when I got the ball and trying to enter it into the low post to Kareem or Maggett or to Worthy, and they just dropped back. And they used to put their best offensive player on me because I was supposed to be the best, the weakest offensive player for the Lakers. So that summer, I worked real hard on shooting the ball, got my confidence level up. And not only in the NBA, you know, it's kind of like uh uh unwritten rule. Usually people that are doing things good on offense are the ones that are getting the individual accolades or winning the awards. So uh that that that really opened my eyes because now I had to shoot the ball. So not only did I become a pretty good three-point shooter, and this is back then when that three-point line was way out there, not like it is now. It wasn't a jump shot back in our day. It was a legitimate two-foot E. So being a good offensive score to a three-point shooter, I was able to win an award that uh I co-hosted with Roy Sparrow from the New

Role Definition: Defense As Niche

SPEAKER_02

York Knicks. It was the Walter J. Kennedy Citizenship Award. And that was about the person that was doing a lot in their community. So I started an attendance program with the Lakers. I went around to 250 schools that year early in the morning to kind of get kids to go to school because the the the ideology is if you're not in school, you can't be taught. And kids were coming in late and stuff like that. So the teachers were kind of bypassing them. So we gave out tickets to like all our games at the forum. So kids and the attendance went up almost 200%. And again, you got to give a lot of credit to the parents because they had a chance to go see the Lakers. And, you know, compared to now as opposed to back then, ticket price was not that, I mean, it was it was heavy for some people, but it wasn't as heavy as it is now. Yes. And anyway, the parents got the kids up, got an opportunity to some gains by just being in school on time. And that was a big, big significant uh uh contribution to our academic system uh uh here in Los Angeles. So that award is something I'm really, really happy about because again, it's not about always taking from your community, it's about getting from your community, but giving back more than you take.

SPEAKER_01

I'm loving that. And you did it so discreetly, like we would hang out, and I never knew you were doing such a community active, positive thing. So I want to say, man, that was impressive when I heard that one. I'm gonna give you some quotes, and and I believe every one of them, I've I've seen it in person. Uh, Byron Scott, our teammate, Showtime teammate, said Coop was the most competitive out of all the Lakers. What was that born out of? Always played with a chip on your shoulder, and it was really you and that Magic or not Kareem or not James Worthy, the other Hall of Famers, you were the lightning rod that spurred everyone on. What was that born out of?

SPEAKER_02

Well, you know what that comes from growing up, and you know, as we're growing up in the 60s and 70s, you're telling people, hey, I want to go to the NBA. And the NBA was like foreign, foreign land back then. I mean, you had to be very special players. So people would always tell me, Coop, you'll never make it. You're too skinny, you don't have a jump shot, you don't have this, you don't have that. And I just was trying to show them, prove them. You know, I didn't listen to them. I always said that I can. And so once I got there, I was gonna just keep instilling in myself and my teammates, hey, we can get this done, we can do this. And that was kind of like my role for the team is I was gonna be that guy that ruffled things up and wasn't gonna let anything stay standard quote because, you know, if you're successful and you stay at that thing, at that level, somebody's gonna either come and knock you off or you're gonna push you down. Well, I went about being pushed down, and so I was always looking to sustain and to achieve greater heights. And I've always had, you know, I knew I was never gonna win a scoring championship. So the best thing I could do was win every individual uh defensive award or get on that first team or second team all defense, defensive player of the year. And that's what it was about, just instilling that confidence in young people. And I live by this thing A B that I call Coop's 5D.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

They're determination, dedication, desire, discipline, and decision making. Those five D's helped me become the player I eventually became, but it also helped me become the man that I am today. And I, you know, put all those five D's in the work into being a father, into being a husband, into being a mentor, into being a coach, into being

1987 Peak And Community Impact

SPEAKER_02

uh a spiritual and religious person. Those things helped me, and that's what kept that edge for me to keep pushing my teammates.

SPEAKER_01

Let's park it there for a second. So if I give you, give me a bullet point, I'm gonna say determination. For your five D's, and I love that, defense and five D's, determination, you would say what? A bullet point on determination.

SPEAKER_02

Be determined. No, be determined uh not to settle for less. It's to always accomplish more, to keep on fighting out there. Uh if you achieve it or conceive it in your mind, and you go out there and give it with all the love and aspirations that you have in your heart, then you can achieve it with your actions. And determination is a big, a big tool for that. It's just be determined. Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do something that you feel that you can. And the only way you'll know if you can do it is if you try it. And if you fall short, then that means that there's a little more room for improvement. So I'm always determined to be my best.

SPEAKER_01

I love that one. Talk about dedication and desire. When dedicated, committed, and then the desire.

SPEAKER_02

Well, the the desire aspect of it is that little kids we dream, and even as big kids now, I dream to want to always have that desire to be the best that I can and always present myself. My desire in the Lord Jesus Christ is growing every day now that I don't play basketball, and now that uh even when I play basketball, but just more desire to find out who the Lord is, who the Holy Spirit is, and find out those uh aspects of life and your walk with uh and and your walk with your higher power, and mine is the Lord Jesus Christ. But that desire in me to be the best, wanting to be the best every year, that still burns. And right now, I desire to be the best coach I can be. So I'm always doing something. I desire to be the best husband. You know, I fall so short on that many times, and my wife and I are still building our relationship and going through that. So those five D's can help you in any aspect of your life, any walk of your life. Uh the discipline, there are discipline rules that you have too. You know, uh, there are guys that cheat on their wife, that go out and drink and do drugs and do all these negative things. Well, that's a discipline factor in you. You weren't raised that way from the get-go. At least I wasn't. So I have to fall back on my discipline factor that my grandmother says, you know, walk in the faith and walk with the Lord. And when things go wrong, you don't turn to drugs or alcohol, you turn to Jesus Christ. Those discipline factors go into being just a quality athlete, but a quality person.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, that that is so impressive. Now, talking about you had tremendous success, obviously, again, as a player, but then as a coach, you were the first person in the history of the NBA to win a championship in the NBA, the WNBA, and now the G League. At the time it was called the D League, but it's the minor leagues of the NBA. What was the secret sauce? And then again, uh, success at Cal State, LA, where you are now. What was the secret sauce? And how were you able to adapt uh being success and cracking the code in every dimension?

SPEAKER_02

Well, everything that you learned as a player, the things that I learned from my upbringing had helped me to achieve the NBA status and to get there and to uh have the longevity that I had. I was very fortunate and blessed to play 12 years. And then I just started expounding on that. After I retired, you still keep building that building process going. And uh I just kind of did that as far as a coach. Everything, the coaches that I've learned from, my high school coach, my college coach, and you know, Coach Chat Riley was very, very influential in my development as a young coach. And then I used a lot of the things, even the way we practiced when I went into the WNDA,

Competitive Edge And The 5 D’s

SPEAKER_02

and the women appreciated that. They wanted that, and that caused us to win. Uh, my next step was in the D-League, and when I had they had a new uh opening team, the Albuquerque Thunderbird. Uh, when I went down there, again, I applied all that that I had known, and now that I was solidified as a coach, I really took that to heart and started uh uh living by example through the coaching technique and doing all the things I had to do, getting up early in the morning, staying late, late at night, your scouting work, you have to do all that, and that was made me successful there. Uh and A B, you missed one. I've had I've had championships at anything that has to do with professional basketball players. This year, I coached in the big three Ice Q's three-on-three league. We won the championship there.

SPEAKER_00

I got nine championships.

SPEAKER_01

Whoa, I missed that one.

SPEAKER_02

I'm gonna keep it on going.

SPEAKER_01

I I want to ask that. Give us a bullet point because everyone wants to go to the NBA. So give us a broad brush stroke. What's the mindset, generally speaking, as general as you can give it, uh, for an NBA player? Um, if when you're coaching an NBA player, when you're coaching a WNBA player, when you're coaching a G League player because they want to get to the NBA. And then when you're coaching guys that had already been pros, kicked around, some of them had success, some of them didn't, what does Michael Cooper, the leader, do for each one as an NBA player, WNBA, a minor league, and of course the big three?

SPEAKER_02

Well, what I try to do, you got to figure if you're in the G League and if you're in the big three, and usually the difference between those two is that the G League, you still have an opportunity, and there's something missing in your game, whether you uh come late or whether you do the wrong things or you're not practicing the right way. Well, what I try to do there is enhance that in the young people and kind of tell them and show them. And I think that lead way is a little bit better because, again, they still have that aspiration and that you know it's kind of like them uh hanging on a fence, and you know how you look in your neighbor's yard and they got a swimming pool. You don't have no swimming pool, you got that little round pool that that nobody wants to do.

SPEAKER_00

From Walmart. Yeah, from Walmart.

SPEAKER_02

Your neighbor got that your neighbor got that nice 10-foot pool and it's heated. You look over the fence, and you know what? You gotta figure out, okay, there's some kind of way that I gotta get there. Well, my job is to show them how to have that ladder, that ladder, or that step ladder. Or, hey, you do this, you do that. You'll be able to jump over there and join the pool, the pool thing right there. So that is what I kind of helped them, whether they're not a good passer, whether they're not a great shooter, whether they're not a great defender in the G League, that's what I tried to do. And I was able to do that to several players. One of my players that I really loved, I had an opportunity to coach was Chuck Hayes.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

He was an undersized, power.

SPEAKER_01

Undersized power forward, sir.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well, we worked with him and Chuck, and Chuck was on my team that year, and man, we worked, and he he said, Coop, I'm gonna do everything you asked me to do. And I kind of showed him, worked with him, gave him the opportunity because you have to, once you do all that work, you gotta be able to play and put that into effect on the court. And Chuck got a call-up man twice. The first time he went up, he didn't get it. Second time, Houston called him back, and Chuck man made a ton of money. This is in the 2000s, and you know what? Chuck to this day keeps trying to give me a million dollars. Chuck, you know what? It's not about you giving me something. It's about me giving you something to supply for your family. But in the uh big three uh winning championships, I had Mario Chalmers, Michael Beasley, Reggie Evans, Lance Stevenson, and Sean Williams. And yes, their career is pretty much over, but that drive and that desire to be called a champ. Anytime you can play for a championship and you have the skills and the teammates to do it, you always want to win. And we put it together and won there this year. So it's just the little things that I'm able to give them, whether it's a word of confidence, whether showing them something on the court as a coach, uh, telling them about my knowledge, my experience sometimes can help other people because they've been doing it wrong, or they probably haven't heard my way. And you know what? My way not be may be the right way all the time, but it may be a way that you never tried. And if you try it, you might get over the hurdle. So that's what I try to give to people.

SPEAKER_01

Tell us about because you've had tremendous success, and I saw where you were rocking and rolling with Orlando Woolridge, rest in peace, the big O, but then you were the head coach, and you guys won back-to-back championships with the WNBA, and you were coach of the year. So, what's the mindset? What is the button to push to encourage the WNBA player and then the NBA player? Break those two mindsets down from those two leagues.

SPEAKER_02

Well, you know, one of the stigma

Coaching Across NBA, WNBA, G League

SPEAKER_02

that falls on a young coach coming up is that you don't have any head coaching experience. And like anybody else, how do you get head coaching experience by being given an opportunity? And that's why I'll always be in debt to Orlando Woolworths, like he said, rest in peace, oh, uh, is that uh he gave me an opportunity to come up here and start coaching in WNBA. And uh for the year and a half I spent under him, and then they wanted to make the coaching change, and I was able to step in there while I was ready. And I think that is something that, you know, for young assistant coaches or that offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator or the CEO guy, you just have to put the work in, man. You have to do the hard work, spend the late hours, do all the grunt work, and you have to learn from that. Don't just take that as a job opportunity to just do it and pass it in. No, when you do it and you send your scouting report in, or you give your report to that head coach, put some time behind it. Put some work behind it and understand what you're doing and always give the head coach or whenever you're giving that person, hey, you know what? This also works too. You got to put in a little bit of your mindset into that. And I was able to get that opportunity. So when I became the head coach of the Sparks, you know, all I did was do a lot of things that Coach Riley had implemented with us. The easy run. A B, you remember we used to run with our hands.

SPEAKER_00

And then a defensive slide. Yeah, I remember that one. Yes.

SPEAKER_02

You may not know what you're doing, but it's gonna help you. And that helps. That kind of stuff helps, man. So when I implemented that with the women, they said the same thing. I had the great Lisa Leslie. I mean, arguably the best WNBA player even to this day. If she was playing in the league today, she would dominate. Lisa was like, and you know what? She stopped questioning me after the first time. Coop, you think this is gonna help us? Okay, I'm gonna do it. And you know what, man? It it we finally got over the hump of the Houston Comets. Now you remember that.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, they were three times, three or four time champions. Yeah. Tina Thompson. Yes.

SPEAKER_02

They had, and they won the first four championships, and that was our goal was to break through, man. And through all that hard work and that knowledge and that that crying and laughing together, we were able to break through. And once we got it, and they got a taste of that championship, you know that A B how it is. When you get it, you're gonna do it again. You want that savor in your mouth again, but we did.

SPEAKER_01

It's interesting. You mentioned mindset, mindset. You and our beloved Jerry West were a part of the greatest heist this side of Napoleon selling Louisiana Purchase. Tell us about the mindset in Kobe Bryant, that legendary time where Kobe, 1996, Alan Iverson was the big deal, and Marcus Camby, but there was a legendary workout, and you took three nuggets from it where you said he's gonna be a star, but with his passion, awareness of the game, and professionalism. So tell us about the mindset that you saw in the Mamba mentality in the early, early days.

SPEAKER_02

Well, let's kind of uh do it like this, AB. You remember and you played with somebody that was gonna be a straight terror and Lynn bias, man, and you understood what it took for Lynn to get to the point to where he was to eventually get drafted. Now he didn't get the chance to fulfill his basketball career, cut short, but that's how it was with Kobe Bryant. At an early age, Kobe had that at 17, 18 years old. And that was the one thing that all the people there, uh, Jerry West, Dale Harris, Mitch Kupchat, myself, we were all impressed with that mindset that he had. And again, that goes into what he eventually called the Bamba mentality. And you know what? When your player has that, you you know it immediately. Now, sometimes it can come late to a young player and eventually they'll get it after

Developing Pros And Second Chances

SPEAKER_02

a year or two in the league. And that was the wonder that Kobe had it before he even stepped into the in the NBA arena. And it was just a chance for him now to grow into the league, get his body stronger, get his get his uh his uh uh knowledge of the game better. But that uh that that that mindset, that, that uh uh mental toughness, that uh understanding of where things go out on the court. And there were three things I had to do in guarding Kobe. One was to keep him from the low post, one was from to keep him from the elbow, that wing area, and two, and the third one was to keep him having a difficulty coming off the pick and roll. Now, a lot of people say Kobe got the best of me, but you gotta remember, I was 41 years old at the time, and I'm not making any mistak any excuses. And this kid was 17 and had a body like a player already. So he won that war, but again, it was a true joy of helping him and understanding him and giving him just a little bit of taste of some defense in the NDA. Uh, but again, after we finished that practice, that workout, we all went to the side.

SPEAKER_01

He's the one. You said he's the one.

SPEAKER_02

Jerry goes, uh, Coop, what you think? I said, no, Jerry, what you think? And he goes, Coop, he's the one. And everybody knew it. And that's what that's what made them pull the trigger, and and Kobe Bryant became the player he became with the Los Angeles Lakers. Now he had to go through his trials and tribulations because that Lakers team wasn't really suited for him yet because you had Nick Van Axel, Anthony Peeler, Eddie Jones. He had some young talented players there. So Kobe was trying to fit in with that. And eventually uh they had to make some moves to really give him his opening and let that team become his. But it was it was fun watching him uh knowing that he was gonna be the one and the chosen one, and then watching how everything materialized until he became the Mamba.

SPEAKER_01

I I want to go back uh because, like I mentioned, this is a full circle moment for me. Uh, for the listeners out there. Uh, the NBA 1987 was my rookie year. I was privileged to come from the University of Maryland and win a championship with Big Brother Coop. Uh, we were eight years apart. Coop, I don't even think you know this story yet. So uh Jerry West comes to us right after the ticker-tape parade down Main Street LA. We make a Just Say No Drugs video for young people. Remember your part. Remember your part. My name is go ahead, hit that one real quick.

SPEAKER_02

Hang out is around the hoop.

SPEAKER_01

My name is Michael. Call me Coop. My hangout is around the hoop. Uh, in fact, look at LA 1987, just say no to drugs for the listeners out there. You get a chuckle. But you don't know this. So, right after that ticker-tay parade, Jerry West comes to me, just like he did to you eight years earlier, and he said, Adrian, I want you to work on defense. We want to start taking pressure off of Coop because you had just one uh NBA Player of the Year. That was the fourth championship. And in my young foolish mind, I was on the drug, I was on drugs called LSD, Lost, Stupid and Dumb. I was just on that psychology, psychological, not listening, Coop. Um, but here's the thing: I said, Coop, Coop don't play offense. I play offense, Coop plays defense, and he's real good at it. So I go out and I score 55 points in the LA Summer League. And of course, shooting uh three pointers, we didn't shoot them like they did. I was making it in three quarters. Jerry West, I still remember this Coop, gets up and walks out the gym and says, that's the worst performance I've ever seen anyone play because I wasn't coachable. And within 30 days, I was gone from our beloved Lakers. This is where I want you to talk to the listeners. We had the same body type, we were the same athletic and young, and we Wanted to establish ourselves. But here's the kicker. You go on and you become a legend and a hall of famer. I go on and I go up the rough side of the mountain. That's why this show is called The Climb to celebrate everybody's uh has a different kind of climb. But talk to the listeners. How did you at 22-23 listen and become coachable and work the process where I didn't listen and I was a knucklehead and I went up the rough side of the mountain?

SPEAKER_02

You know what, AB, I'm I'm uh, yeah, I'd never heard that story before. And but you know what? When one of the greatest let's ever play this game, and Jerry was that as a player, as a GM, as a mentor to all of us, and as a as a husband and dad, uh, I think the reason why it was so different for

Leading The Sparks And Culture

SPEAKER_02

both of us, because at the time I came in, uh, the NBA was wasn't, it wasn't, it was an offense, but it really wasn't. Because you had a lot of, you had Lonnie Shelton, uh, Wes Unsell, you had some good defense, Bill Russell had played in the league. You had some good defensive players, so I had that option. I mean, defense was a little bit glorified when I came in as opposed to when you came in. When you came in, the NBA was on a bang, on a high.

SPEAKER_01

The Showtime Lakers. We were, yeah, run and gun.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So you being a great offensive player at Maryland and understanding how to score and do all those things, I just think that sometimes we get caught in our mindset of, okay, yeah, I know he wants me to play defense, but I'm gonna show him that I can play offense. Yes. But again, that's one of those things where, you know, somebody tell you something and you do it, A B, you and I are so much alike. The only difference between us is color. I'm darker than you. I ain't gonna touch that one, brother. And I'm right-handed, and you're a terrible left hand, but I I I don't like left. I'm not a big but, you know, it's a fun thing that we can laugh about it because everybody's journey eventually takes them different routes, but we all end up the same way at the top, man. And like you said, your client was different than mine, but here we are doing your podcast, enjoying life. You'll be a successful person in your in your end of it. I'm being a successful person, but you know what? That's a small little blip on the scale because I tell kids this you know what? Athletics are just a small portion of who you are. The bottom line is what do you do with it to make you become that successful man at the end? And a lot of people don't. And you know, I hate to bring this young man's name up, but this kid named Delante West, you know, I'm on TikTok and I hear a lot of the bad things and I see him now. And that's how, that's how easy. That's how easy it is for things to go wrong for you. And you know what I pray for him every day that he's gonna get on the right track. But again, both of us are successful in our own right. We took the route differently, but the key is we won a championship in '87, baby. Nobody can ever take that away from you.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I'm loving that. I want to give you two quotes. I'm gonna celebrate and then I'm gonna ask you to encourage our listeners. One magic said, it shows you that if you concentrate on defense and unselfish and master your role, people will notice. So if you're being unselfish, having winning intangibles and mastering your roles, people will notice. And I love this quote you had. I know what I do. You said from your hall of fame. I know what I need to do next. I'm determined to use my platform to give back to the game and to others. Having said that, Coop, before we let you go, can you tell our listeners out there uh what they can do to be encouraged and keep climbing?

SPEAKER_02

Well, I think just follow your rules. Everybody has different rules as a young person growing up, the people that mentor you, your mom and dad, your uncles, anybody that's involved in your life, sometimes it could be your high school coach, sometimes it could be your pastor. I think you just have to listen to them and understand and have a young, have a young vision. Uh as a young vision, you're always looking to be great as opposed to an old vision. And that's what I am now. I have old visions. My life is to end up in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ. But I still have things to do here on earth, so I'm always giving out advice. But as a young person, don't always think you know it all.

Kobe’s Workout And Mamba Mentality

SPEAKER_02

Because there's somebody that knows a little bit more than you. And when you listen to them, adhere to it, uh, understand it, try to uh envelop it, try to let that soak in. And knowledge is a powerful thing to have, man. When you know something and you don't think you know it all, because I'm always constantly still learning to this day. And the one thing that I always say, and I use this slogan, I think, therefore I can. And when you ask a young person about that, I think whatever you think you can conceive in your mind, and you believe in your heart with your higher power, and you go out there, you can achieve it with your actions. So I'm always thinking I could be a better person tomorrow than I was today. And I just have to put that into effect in my mind, let that soak through me, keep praying on it, and just go out there and then get it done with my actions, man.

SPEAKER_01

Wow. Big brother, so proud of you, man. I think, therefore, I am. There were so many nuggets out there for our listeners. Coop, tell the listeners where they can find you. Where can they find Coach Cooper and Michael Cooper, Hall of Fame player?

SPEAKER_02

Well, uh, you can read Cal State LA. Uh, what by I I I'm not big on this technology stuff, but I do want to say this, A B. I just wrote a book.

SPEAKER_01

Ah, nice. There we go. There we go.

SPEAKER_02

And it's called Coop, The Making of a Showtime Laker Legend.

SPEAKER_01

Nice.

SPEAKER_02

And uh A B or Scratcher, you know your real name. I'm gonna get you a copy of this, but they can get this at Amazon. Uh, it's not hasn't come out yet. It's it comes out uh October the 18th.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, coming out in a few weeks.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it'll go out. But uh I'm on, you can reach me on the Showtime, uh Showtime, uh, Showtime Cook Podcast.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

Uh on all however you get your podcast platforms. They are again. I'm all this is not things I do. Other people do this for me, but uh I enjoy talking about it. But Scratcher, you're in this book, man. Let's go, let's go. Don't buy a copy, I'm gonna send you a copy. Okay. It was a true joy. It's two years in the I I wrote that two years ago, and we've just been laying the groundwork, doing the fact checking, make sure everything is right, and uh I'm glad that it'll be coming out soon. So I'm gonna get you one. I'm gonna put in here. F-C-R-A-T-N.

SPEAKER_01

Scratch. I came from the East Coast, folks, calling everybody Scratcher, which was another name for Scrub, so it's stuck. It's like, hey, Scratcher, come here.

SPEAKER_02

That became your nickname.

SPEAKER_01

That became my nickname to Scratcher. Coop, we we love you. Thank you for so much wisdom. We we have to do it again. I sure appreciate you. Thank you for hanging today, Michael Cooper, everybody.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you, and tell everybody to keep climbing. That's a long climb to the top, baby. But if you can't stop now, I gotta keep going.

SPEAKER_01

Love you, A B. Love you, Coop. Wow, Michael Cooper, everybody. There's so many nuggets. You you've got to, wow, man, it's like a big hearty Thanksgiving meal. You got to loosen up the belt buckle. What did Coop just tell us about being patient, about a praying grandmother, about not quitting on yourself. And then as a leader, listening, because if you listen, you will glisten. And then he's in the hall of fame from a person where at one time they thought he'd never walk again. Man, his story has to continue to be celebrated. Well, listen, if you want to know more about us, head on over to AdrianBranchSpeaks.com. Follow us on social media at Adrian Branch Speaks and download the climb wherever podcasts are available. For my climbers out there, we had a ball. And remember, remember, be encouraged and keep climbing. We'll see you next time, everybody.