Michael Cooper is planning a golf tournament with NBA stars in Finland

Michael Cooper played for the Los Angeles Lakers during the so-called “showtime success years”. Mikael Kaivanto

At the beginning of October, a basketball panel discussion was organized in Helsinki, which included a five-time NBA champion Michael Cooper66.

Cooper had arrived in Helsinki a day earlier as the panel’s star guest to discuss his own career in the world’s best league.

– I love Finland. I like people and their lifestyle. It’s not as congested here as in Los Angeles, Cooper beamed to IL.

Cooper has been to Finland before, when he was holding a camp for young basketball players. For him, Helsinki is a wonderfully peaceful city that lives at its own pace.

During the visit in October, Cooper did not have time to get to know the city in more detail, but the next visit to Finland is already planned for next summer.

– I enjoy being able to come back to Finland. I’m here for a few days and I’m going to participate in a golf tournament where I’m bringing my NBA buddies with me, Cooper revealed.

The tournament is named Midnight Golf, which means that it would be played around midnight in Finland. They are involved, at least initially James Worthy, Byron Scott and Bob McAdoo. According to the Lakers legend, many former NBA players have taken up golf in their retirement years.

– They want to play golf in different places. I’ve heard the fields here are amazing so why not do something new and fun.

A grim diagnosis

The NBA star who grew up in Los Angeles was able to play at the peak of his career in his hometown Lakers for a total of 12 seasons, five of which ended with championship celebrations.

Cooper’s path to stardom came quite an obstacle at the age of six, when a can made a wound to the bone in his left knee. Cooper was patched with a total of 103 stitches.

– Because I was so thin, the doctors said I wouldn’t be able to walk properly again. Thanks to God and my grandmother’s prayers, I managed to get back on the field, Cooper said.

He used injury as a tool to progress in basketball all the way to the top.

– My family couldn’t afford to send me to college, so I was able to get an education for myself through basketball.

In 1978, the Lakers drafted the youngster to the NBA in the third round.

During his career, Cooper was named to the NBA All-Star Defensive Team eight times. He received the title of the best defensive player in 1987. During the successful years of the Lakers, he played alongside Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, who took care of the team’s biggest scorers.

– At first I saw Johnson and Worthy as only average players. In my time, they raised their level all the way to Hall Of Fame players. It’s hard to get into the Hall of Fame, but what they did in training showed that they will end up there.

Abdul-Jabbar became the trademark guy for the skyhook. In his career, he made numerous baskets with one-handed lifting from many meters away from the basket.

– Everyone always wants to throw threes, but no one has mastered the skyhook as well. It’s an amazing and simple throw, but no one wants to take the time to practice it.

Cooper considers Abdul-Jabbar to be an intelligent and humorous guy, with whom he could talk about anything. With Abdul-Jabbar by his side, Cooper learned a lot about himself as a person.

After his playing career, Cooper moved into coaching. As a head coach, he worked in the WNBA for 12 seasons, winning two championships at the helm of the Los Angeles Sparks in the early 2000s.