NBA: The 25 best NBA players never to make an All-Star game
The 25 best NBA players never to make an All-Star game — 8. Michael Cooper
This may be the most surprising entry, both for making the list and for ranking ninth. Michael Cooper’s career scoring average is 8.9 points, he played just 12 career seasons (and just three games as a rookie) and was never seriously considered for an All-Star game. He wasn’t, at the core, a “star” player.
Instead, he erased stars. Michael Cooper was the quintessential 3-and-D wing before the league knew what to do with one of those. Offensively, that meant low-usage roles where he occasionally spotted up beyond the arc, and occasionally inside. He was top-5 in the league in 3-pointers in three different seasons despite his limited role. He ran in transition — everyone on the Showtime Lakers did — and could rise up for athletic finishes at the rim. Yet defense was his calling card.
Cooper was a lockdown defender, a true wing stopper, with the strength to fight through screens and defend larger players inside, and the foot speed to halt opposing guards. Playing alongside Magic Johnson and late-prime Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Cooper had to be a defensive anchor from the wing. He absolutely was and by and large, was recognized for it.
Eight times Michael Cooper was named to an All-Defensive team, five times to the first team. In 1986-87 he was awarded the Defensive Player of the Year award, one of only a handful of wings to bring home that honor. He won because of his overall defensive impact, but in large part, it was because he could do what no other defender in the 1980s could do: he could guard Larry Bird, and guard him well.
The Boston Celtics were a powerhouse in the 80s, winning three titles. They likely would have won two more, were it not for Cooper. He consistently held Bird to inefficient shooting lines, game after game after game. Bird himself called Cooper “the best defensive player he ever faced.” Cooper took on the decade’s best scorer and, more often than not, won. He was a crucial part of five title teams with the Lakers.
Closest Call: The 1986-87 season saw Cooper, at the height of his defensive powers, bring home the Defensive Player of the Year award. Cooper appeared in all 82 regular season games, averaging 10.5 points per game and a career-best 1.1 3-pointers per game on 38.5 percent shooting. Cooper’s 89 total 3-pointers was just one behind Bird’s league-leading mark. The Lakers won a league-leading 65 games and took down Bird and the Celtics in the NBA Finals.