Michael Cooper knew pressure. The NBA\u2019s 1987 Defensive Player of the Year had won five rings with the 1980s Showtime Lakers, blocking shots alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and finishing \u201cCoop-a-loop\u201d passes from Magic Johnson for dunks. But in 2000, things were different. He wasn\u2019t in the game, he was coaching it from the sidelines for the WNBA\u2019s Los Angeles Sparks. And despite Cooper being named coach of the year, the Sparks fell short in the playoffs to the Houston Comets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we lost that,\u201d Cooper says, \u201cpeople said, \u2018Coop, you\u2019re supposed to be this great coach. And you can\u2019t get the Sparks over the hump.\u2019\u201d It was hard to swallow. When most people come up short at work, the world doesn\u2019t know about it \u2013 or debate it on live television. \u201cWith fame comes consequences,\u201d says Cooper. \u201cYou have to take the good and the bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cooper, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball<\/a> Hall of Fame last summer, has an interesting relationship with fame. Though he was on the Showtime Lakers, he never quite felt famous in the 1980s. He wasn\u2019t a big-name college player when he came out of the University New Mexico and his rise in the public consciousness was a slow burn. Cooper became the Laker\u2019s premiere sixth man, coming off the bench, sublimating his ego for the sake of wins.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt famous,\u201d Cooper says. \u201cBut I felt famous as a team. The team was very good, and people appreciated that. When I was walking down the street, if people knew basketball, they knew who I was. But they didn\u2019t see me as an individual [star] \u2013 it was more the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Others on the Lakers, though, got major attention. Particularly Johnson. If LA lost, Magic would take the blame. Cooper was able to avoid the worst criticism because he wasn\u2019t one of the big stars. He remembers the 1981 playoffs when LA lost to the Rockets. Johnson took a bad last shot and the Lakers lost out on a chance to repeat as champions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe media talked about that all summer,\u201d Cooper says. \u201cFor me, I had the luxury \u2013 I was able to receive credit when I did great things, and I was able to hide when I didn\u2019t do great things.\u201d That was not the case, though, when he was hired by the Sparks. \u201cBut all that changes when you become a coach,\u201d he says. \u201cCoaching \u2013 you can\u2019t hide.\u201d<\/p>\n On the court, Kenny Anderson never hid. Ever since he was at middle school in New York City, people have been writing about the point guard. \u201cOh my god!\u201d Anderson days. \u201cThirteen years old! I\u2019ve been getting press, media since I was 13! I grew up in it. I was good with it.\u201d Anderson, who was a star at a young age in the city that loves its floor generals<\/a>, says he was able to succeed thanks to those who looked out for him. \u201cI had great mentors,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Anderson, who was raised by his mother, Joan, says he looked to the family of another New York City prodigy, Kenny Smith, as an example. Smith, who is five years older than Anderson, was also a point guard. An All-American, Smith succeeded in the city\u2019s pressure-packed scene and went on to star at the University of North Carolina and make the NBA. It was Smith\u2019s family, along with several other coaches and local figures, who helped show the future Georgia Tech star and No 2 pick what to do.<\/p>\n \u201cHis family was very important to me,\u201d Anderson says. \u201cI saw how he was growing up, saw how he was raised.\u201d<\/p>\n