Michael Cooper was just elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame

[sdot_thadon]

If it takes you 20 years to get in, you're probably not supposed to be there.

[L.Kizzle]

Bill Laimbeer was also nominated. I'm sure most would say Laimbeer in that same era was better?

[Real Men Wear Green]

He had a great resume...as a WNBA coach. Two time champion and one coach of the year. By itself his WNBA career could put him in the hall. I don't know under what category he made the Hall but he would qualify as a coach if not as an overall contributor.

[L.Kizzle]

He had a great resume...as a WNBA coach. Two time champion and one coach of the year. By itself his WNBA career could put him in the hall. I don't know under what category he made the Hall but he would qualify as a coach if not as an overall contributor.

He's goin in as a player.
Does Cornbread Maxwell get in now? He has a Finals MVP.
Marques Johnson is probably the best player from the 80s not in.

[L.Kizzle]

Dick Barnett has also made the Hall. I can see a case for him. He was a prolific collegiate and high school stand out.

[Nowoco]

I mean the HoF is an absolute joke as we all know but inductions like this are ridiculous. What has Michael Cooper done in the last 33 years since he retired to improve his HoF credentials? If he hasnt been good enough for three decades, why is he now?

From a players perspective, who would even want this honour decades after the fact? It's basically a big neon sign saying "you just about scrape in I guess". Surely they have more pride than that. You're either good enough when you retire or you're not. It shouldn't change later on. If there's a doubt, especially this much doubt, then you're very clearly not a Hall of Fame player.

The Lakers now have to put his jersey in the rafters too.

[Jasper]

I am actually shocked he made it.
No All-NBA Teams or All-Star Teams.
Made 8 All-Defensive Teams (Four each 1st and 2nd.)
One DPOY
Five championships
Avg 10 ppg only twice
Only started apparently 94 games.

I believe he coached multiple WNBA champions

Cooper is one of the most successful coaches in WNBA history, ranking second in career winning percentage (.663) and sixth in career victories (167) entering the 2014 season. He is the last WNBA head coach to have led his team to back-to-back league titles, winning the 2001 and 2002 championships in Los Angeles.

[L.Kizzle]

I believe he coached multiple WNBA champions

Cooper is one of the most successful coaches in WNBA history, ranking second in career winning percentage (.663) and sixth in career victories (167) entering the 2014 season. He is the last WNBA head coach to have led his team to back-to-back league titles, winning the 2001 and 2002 championships in Los Angeles.

He should be in as a coach. He made it as a player.

[fsvr54]

People really don't care about defense.

He was an EIGHT TIME DEFENSIVE ALL-STAR

[L.Kizzle]

People really don't care about defense.

He was an EIGHT TIME DEFENSIVE ALL-STAR

No All-Star games or All-NBA selections tho. Him and Bruce Bowen have 8 and no other individual selections.
Even Rodman and Dray have multiple All-Star and All-NBA Team selections.
That's what's missing with guys like Coop and Bowen and even a Tony Allen or Marcus Camby.

[pandiani17]

As some posters have mentioned, he was a very successful coach in the WNBAs early years. I hope that has to do something with it, because I think only the best should be included in the HOF, not players who weren't even All-Stars.

[Norcaliblunt]

Honestly there shouldn’t even be a Hall of Fame.

All the great players already have awards and accolades.

Are MVP’s, all star selections, all NBA teams, DPOY’s, championship trophies not enough ass kissing and recognition? The hall of fame is overkill.

Now what would be more interesting is a museum dedicated to recognizing the lesser known but great roles players and key figures like a Michael Cooper.

[John8204]

Bill Laimbeer was also nominated. I'm sure most would say Laimbeer in that same era was better?

I mean you've got a case that Bill was better than all three guys that got in this year. Is the next generation of fans going to remember or talk about Vince Carter? Wasn't Bill more successful than Billups. He also has a hell of a lot more accomplishments than Cooper.

[L.Kizzle]

Walter Davis makes it this year.
Interesting note.
Walter was nominated for the first time shortly after passing away late last year.

This new committee is wild.

[guy]

Hall of fame is really just going the way of if you were a dynasty there’s automatically going to be at least 4-5 players and 6-7 people overall from that dynasty make the HOF even though a lot of is results based. It’s a circular argument. The main players that lead these dynasties are a little diminished because they had so many HOF teammates in their dynasty but those teammates clearly wouldn’t be HOfers if they weren’t part of the dynasty the main players were the biggest contributors of. Then some other great players who weren’t as successful are excused and “needed more help”. I won’t be surprised if eventually guys like Horace Grant, Ron Harper, Steve Kerr, Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, Andre Iguodala get in.