Michael Cooper coaching against Wizards

In their first season in the NBA D-League the Dakota Wizards have hosted a few former NBA player...  More »

In their first season in the NBA D-League the Dakota Wizards have hosted a few former NBA players who are now coaching in the D-League. Sidney Moncrief, the late Dennis Johnson and now tonight former LA Laker guard Michael Cooper. Cooper coaches the the defending D-League Champion Albuquerque Thunderbirds. We caught up with the five time NBA champ after the T-Birds shootaround this morning. Not only has Michael Cooper been sucessful as a player, but as coach he has a WNBA and an NBA-D League ring as well. Micheal:I think the difference is it's definitely more mental but that's the fun part about it because as aplyer I used up my old body now I gotta use this head that I think I've got some knowledge in. Obviously with five NBA championships as an LA Laker, there's a ton of memories, but a few really stand out. Michael:The biggest memory I have is beatin the Boston Celtics for the first time at Boston Garden in 1985 but uh I think I say that jokingly because every championship you win is always special but I think the real memorable one would have to be our first one because I think we really didn't know what we were doing in 1980 and we were going against a very good Philadelphia 76ers team and uh we went there without our captain Kareem and won a big game in Philly.The late Dennis Johnson who was also a D-League coach and former Boston Celtic also comes to mind. Micheal:It hurt with DJ passing bit again it's more of a celebration of what he did he left a great legacy here um DJ and I go back to 1973 we played against each other in junior college you know the funny thing about DJ is you could never get mad at him even when he had that Boston Celtic uniform on you went there with vengeance and then he'd come out with that big silly smile that he always had and he'd lighten the mood and then again, yes it's sad that he 's gone but again there is so many lives that he touched and the moments that we shared were vert enjoyable and thats what I enjoy about him and through him I'm gonna try and carry his legacy on. Cooper and the T-Birds will tip off against the Wizards tonight at 7:00. The WIzards magic number for making the playoffs is two. The T-Birds stand at third in the D-League West.  « Less