Former Los Angeles Lakers Defensive Player of the Year shooting guard Michael Cooper will see his No. 21 jersey retired by the team during the 2024-25 season, reports Taylor Geas of Lakers.com.

Los Angeles is slated to retire the 6-foot-7 swingman’s threads on Jan. 13, during a Crypto.com Arena homecourt meeting against All-Defensive First Team center Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs.

A Pasadena native, Cooper was an absolute steal for then-L.A. general manager Bill Sharman, when he was selected with the No. 60 pick out of the University of New Mexico in the third round of the 1978 NBA Draft. He emerged as a critical role player alongside MVP center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, three-time MVP point guard Magic Johnson, and seven-time All-Star small forward James Worthy during the club’s entire championship run in the 1980s, claiming five titles.

Though never named an All-Star, Cooper still proved essential as a perimeter stopper. He was named to five All-Defensive First Teams and three All-Defensive Second Teams and was honored as the 1987 Defensive Player of the Year.

Cooper also finished in the top four in Sixth Man of the Year voting three times, from 1984-87. He will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this year, joining a variety of Lakers.

Across 873 career games (but just 94 starts), Cooper has posted averages of 8.9 points on 46.9 percent shooting from the field and 83.3 percent shooting from the charity stripe, 4.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks a night. He twice finished among the top 25 in MVP vote recipients, from 1980-82.

Ultimately, Cooper played from 1978-90, appearing in nine NBA Finals with L.A. all told. He wrapped his pro career overseas, playing for Italian club Pallacanestro Virtus Roma during the 1990–91 season in Italy for Pallacanestro Virtus Roma of the Italian Serie A.

Cooper has spent the majority of the last three decades as a coach across a variety of leagues and levels and has added some hardware to his trophy case. He was an assistant coach under Del Harris on the Lakers from 1994-96, meaning he was present during Johnson’s NBA comeback in 1995-96 when the 6-foot-9 former superstar played as a power forward. Cooper then hopped over to the WNBA, where he led the Lisa Leslie-era Los Angeles Sparks to a pair of consecutive titles in 2001 and ’02.

The former Lobo returned to the NBA to work as an assistant coach and interim head coach for the Carmelo Anthony-era Denver Nuggets in 2004-05. Cooper then coached in the NBA’s minor league, then called the D League (now the G League). Cooper instantly led the then-Albuquerque Thunderbirds (now the Cleveland Charge) to a championship. Currently, he serves as the head coach for Cal State L.A.

Cooper will be just the fifth Showtime-era Laker to see his jersey retired by the franchise, alongside Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, Worthy, and three-time All-Star small forward Jamaal Wilkes. Former Los Angeles greats Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and George Mikan have also had their numbers retired.

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