Tough as nails. Highly competitive. Nasty. Brutally honest.

That’s how some of Michael Cooper’s teammates summarized his 12-year Hall of Fame career — all with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers honored the five-time NBA champion at halftime of the their game against the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 13 at Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center) by retiring his jersey No. 21, joining “Showtime Lakers” teammates Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and Jamaal Wilkes. Cooper’s No. 21 was the 13th jersey number retired by the team.

“Cooper was the pulse of our team,” Worthy said about his former teammate on Spectrum Sportsnet. “He was an amazing teammate. [He was] competitive and brutally honest and we needed [that] in the locker room.”

Cooper only averaged 8.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists during his NBA career. He hit double digits in points per game only twice (1982 and 1987). He was never named to an All-NBA team or All-Star team. But the Showtime Lakers didn’t need Cooper to score a ton of points. What they needed from him was defense, and boy did he fill that role perfectly.

Cooper was named to the NBA all-defensive teams eight times, including five times on the first team. He was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the 1986-87 season. He is the only non-starter in league history to win Defensive Player of the Year. Coop rode his defense all the way to Springfield, Mass., as the Pasadena, Calif., native was named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.

“When we start playing this game, we try to play for the passion and for the love of the game,” Coop said on Spectrum Sportsnet. “When you play hard, good things will come to you. And that’s all I try to do my whole career.”

“It would have been nice to be an All-Star, first team All-NBA,” Cooper continued. “But you know what, I gave it my all and through that we were able to win championships. People don’t forget winners and they don’t forget champions.”

When asked when he decided to be a defensive stopper, Cooper chuckled and said it was born out of necessity.

“When I came on the team they had Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon and Kareem. Jerry West came up to me and said, ‘Coop, we ain’t got enough balls for you man so find another niche.’ So, I tried to find that and hang my hat on it.”

Coop was a Swiss Army knife on the Lakers dynasty in the 1980s. He could fill in as a point guard or shooting guard and small forward. He was a 3-and-D archetype before 3-and-D players were a thing. The Lakers would not have been able to win five NBA championships during a nine-year period without Cooper’s defense.

Under the hood of the Showtime machine was a grit and grind approach that enabled them to get stops and push the pace. Coop was usually assigned to the guard the opposing team’s best player, and would often shut off their water with his tenacity.

“When Larry Bird, one of the toughest guys to stop, says to the world that Michael Cooper was the toughest defender that he ever went up against … that to me explains everything about who [Michael Cooper] is,” Worthy said. “Around the league he was known as a nasty, physical defender. He was just an amazing defensive player. He had a plethora of defensive assignments and he dominated every one of them.”

After making a crucial mid-range shot in the fourth quarter of his first NBA playoff game, an energized Austin Reaves jogged back on defense and screamed toward the L.A. Lakers bench saying, “I’m him! I’m him!”

The meme-mable moment was one of the defining images of the 2023 NBA playoffs. It was extra special for Reaves because his basketball journey is better than a Hollywood script.

He came into the league as an undrafted free agent. He earned himself a roster spot with the Lakers in 2021 on a two-way contract before securing a fully guaranteed two-year, $2.4 million contract. This summer, he’s expected to attract several suitors in free agency. The Lakers can’t afford to lose Reaves and must do everything within their power to keep him on their roster.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka told reporters during his end-of-season media availability that the team intends to keep its young core together, and at the top of that priority list is Reaves.

Pelinka sees Reaves as a major part in making the puzzle fit to compete for championships. But the league’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement might make it challenging for the Lakers to retain Reaves, who could potentially command a lucrative deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $60 million to $80 million.

The Lakers can offer Reaves — who is a restricted free agent — a four-year deal worth about $51 million. Opposing teams could offer Reaves nearly twice that amount, but the Lakers can match it.

“We have a lot of great young players,” Pelinka said. “Austin, in particular, had an incredible year. He defines really what’s at the heart of playing for the Lakers. He’s a selfless, team-first guy. He lives in the gym. He loves the big moment. He’s been able to meet the big moment. I think he’s a guy that, regardless on what his deal is, I don’t think it’s going to change him as a person. And we’ll hang our hat on guys like that, that compete, love the game, love their teammates. We’re proud to have him as part of this franchise.”

The blockbuster three-team trade in February that brought D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley to the L.A. and sent Russell Westbrook to Utah had a major ripple effect. But it wasn’t the result most expected.

Russell, who was thought to be the most valuable piece in the Westbrook trade, had a roller-coaster second tenure with the Lakers. When he was making shots, he was a major contributor. But when he struggled to score, he was useless on the court and became a defensive liability. Russell struggled mightily in the Western Conference finals against the Denver Nuggets, averaging just 6.3 points and shooting an abysmal 13% from 3-point range. D-Lo was so awful in the WCF that he lost his starting spot in Game 4. The Nuggets went on to sweep the Lakers and advanced to their first NBA Finals.

Vanderbilt had his moments on the defensive end, but was offensively challenged (shot under 20% from the field). He was in and out of the starting lineup and barely played in the fourth quarters. Beasley was suppose to provide the Lakers with some much-needed 3-point punch. But a terrible shooting slump (25% FGM) got him benched and the only time you saw him on the court was during garbage time.

Ultimately, the biggest benefactor in the Westbrook trade was Reaves.

Moving Westbrook elevated Reaves and gave him more opportunities as a primary playmaker, especially on pick-and-rolls. Reaves’ accent into the starting lineup coincided with the Lakers’ late-season push. AR earned the trust of Lakers head coach Darvin Ham and his staff, as well as the team’s superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who have embraced him with open arms.

There are approximately 450 guys playing in the NBA, and Reaves feels he belongs in this rare community.

“His game speaks volumes,” former Lakers guard and Spectrum SportsNet analyst Derek Fisher said about Reaves, who is becoming a fan favorite and something of a cult hero in Lakers Nation.

“[Austin is a] balanced offensive player. [He] can score at all three levels; at the rim, mid-range, pick and roll, shoot the three,” Fisher added. “He can guard multiple positions. Great basketball IQ. There’s no surprise in his production.

“Austin is a great example of it’s now where you start, it’s where you continue to finish as you move through your journey. Everybody’s journey is different. He has proven himself. And he’s not done yet.”

Fisher can relate to Reaves. Like Reaves, Fisher grew up in Arkansas. D-Fish was a key role player on the Shaq-Kobe teams in the early 2000s. His big moment came during the 2001 playoffs where he got in a zone and the Lakers rode his hot hand all the way to a second straight NBA title.

Reaves’ coming-out party came in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies. His fourth-quarter takeover carried the Lakers to an unexpected road victory in one of the most hostile environments in the basketball.

“There’s a lot of emotions. You dream about being on a stage like this,” Reaves said. “It’s the playoffs. I got hot late.”

On six straight possessions when the game was hanging in the balance, Reaves was responsible for 13 Lakers points that allowed L.A. to pull away. Reaves made two mid-range shots, a layup, a 3-pointer, knocked down two free throws and assisted on a Davis dunk.

He scored 14 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter on 5-for-5 shots from the field. For the game he was 8 for 13 from the field. Not a bad playoff debut for the second-year undrafted guard from Oklahoma.

“When you got guys like Bron and AD, it makes life a lot easier,” Reaves said. He said his first impressions on the playoffs is that the game is more physical but a lot of the “little stuff” stayed the same.

Reaves was instrumental in helping the seventh-seeded Lakers knock out the Grizzlies in six games. But he was far from done. He may not have produced highlight-reel moments against the Golden State Warriors in the conference semifinals, but he was a major factor in knocking out the defending NBA champs and essentially ending the Dubs’ dynasty.

Reaves was the steady hand Ham turned to whenever the Lakers offense goes off course. Each time the Lakers called on No. 15, he delivered in big-time fashion.

“We trust him with the ball in his hand, early in the game and late in the game,” LeBron said about Reaves. “I’ve been around the game long enough to know great basketball IQ players. I know the type of player that fit with my game. I knew Austin would be that right away. I’m gonna give a lot of credit to Coach [Frank] Vogel in throwing him into the fire and learn on the fly, and allow him to make mistakes. Play through a lot of stuff. But I knew the type of player we would get in Austin.”

Reaves was a huge Kobe Bryant fan growing up in Newark, Ark. Because of it, he was given the nickname Hillbilly Kobe. But former Lakers forward James Worthy, who now works for Spectrum SportsNet, may have the best nickname for Reaves’ old-school style of basketball: “Pistol Pete” Reaves.

Pistol Pete is a reference to the late great Pete Maravich, a basketball pioneer who mesmerized fans with a unique style that was the epitome of the way the game was played in the 1970s.

“I believe in all our ball handlers. I believe in [D’Angelo] Russell. I believe in [Dennis] Schroeder. But I have to say this, Reaves is the best decision maker of the three, especially down the stretch,” Worthy said. “He can pass. But more importantly he draws fouls. He can complete the old-fashioned 3-point play. When he gets the ball and starts to navigate and the defense is beside him or behind him, he is going to get that little bump, shot, floater or he’s gonna make the right decision.”

Reaves is a 3-handicap in golf, so he is extremely dialed in when it comes to details. And he is ultra competitive.

“He doesn’t panic. A lot of guys will make a pass one second too early. Not Reaves,” Worthy said. “He will wait. He is so fun to watch. Extremely smart player.”

For the past two years, the Lakers had been searching for a No. 3 option to complement LeBron and AD. As it turned out, the missing piece to their complicated puzzle was sitting under their nose. Or, sitting on their bench.

Reaves’ confidence grew with the increased playing time. Having more opportunities with the ball in his hands elevated his profile. Other NBA players, like Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard, were taking notice. Lillard tweeted: “My bad … Reaves like that.”

Reaves enjoyed a major breakout in the final three months of the season, and the Lakers posted the league’s best record since the All-Star break. In his final 18 regular-season games, Reaves averaged 18 points per game, shot 57% from the field, 42% from the 3-point line, and nearly 6 assists. In 64 games in his sophomore NBA season, he averaged 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting 52.9 percent from the floor and 39.8 percent from 3-ball range.

Reaves took his game to a higher level in the playoffs. He averaged nearly 17 points per game, five assists, and shot 56% from the field. He was even better in the conference finals, averaging 21.3 points, 5.3 assists while shooting lights out from the field (55%) and from behind the 3-point line (56%). He also was a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line. The Lakers were outplayed by the much more disciplined and cohesive Nuggets, but Reaves was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing playoff finish.

Reaves told reporters that the biggest lesson he learned in his first playoffs was how mentally taxing it was.

“I think the mental part of basketball and probably a lot of other sports is maybe more of the battle. You definitely become mentally drained at points of the year,” he said. “[You have] to keep that strong to have the discipline to stay up on your other treatment because when you get mentally drained sometimes all you want to do is lay in bed and go to sleep. So, the mental part is just as big as the physical part. And that’s basically what I’ve learned in this playoff push.”

L.A. owned the third-best net rating after the trade deadline, even with LeBron missing 16 games. With Reaves in the starting lineup with James, Anthony Davis, Russell and Vanderbilt, L.A. outscored opponents by 37 points in 77 minutes down the home stretch. During the play-in game against Minnesota, Reaves played the entire fourth quarter and overtime. It said a lot about Ham’s confidence in the second-year pro. Whenever Reaves was paired with LeBron and AD on the court, the Lakers +/- metrics were sky high.

Reaves has carved out a nice role on a squad with two players on the NBA’s top-75 team. His big jump puts the Lakers in a challenging spot to re-sign him this offseason. NBA insider Shams Charania said it would be tough for the Lakers to match any offer north of $60 million.

If a team offered Reaves four years, $90 million, which is not entirely impossible, the Lakers will have to bite the bullet and absorb the salary cap hit.

“I want to be here,” Reaves told reporters during exit interviews. “[L.A.] feels like home to me, in a sense. Obviously, it’s a lot different than my actual home. It’s a little bigger. A lot more people. Worst traffic. But, I told somebody a couple of months ago that it feels like home for me. The way the fans support me; players, coaching staff, front office. This is definitely somewhere I want to be, but we’ll see what happens.”

On the night Kareem Abdul-Jabber surpassed Wilt Chamberlain to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, legendary play-by-play announcer Chick Hearn made a bold prediction.

Moments after Abdul-Jabbar thanked the crowd at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas and walked off the court holding the record-setting basketball in his hands, the voice of the Los Angeles Lakers said no one will ever beat Kareem’s record.

This is exactly what Hearn said on April 5, 1984, during the broadcast of the game between the Lakers and the Utah Jazz: “[Kareem] has accomplished something that I don’t believe, I mean this sincerely, I don’t think this will happen again. If a man played every single game for 15 years, 82 games a year for 15 years and average 25 points, he would tie what’s done here tonight. But, nobody is going to play every game for 15 years. No one is in the physical shape this guy is in. And not many people can play the game for 15 years.”

For 39 years, Hearn was proven to be prophetic. Kareem’s record of 38,387 points stood for nearly four decades. But what Hearn didn’t anticipate was the arrival of a physically gifted athlete who was built like Karl Malone and could soar above the rim like Michael Jordan with the speed and agility of Julius “Dr. J” Erving. At 6-8, 265 pounds, LeBron is a real life Marvel superhero. He can do things on the basketball court mortals could only dream about. And what made LeBron Avenger-like was his consistency. He was able to maintain his physical abilities for the majority of his 20-year NBA career.

Kareem’s remarkable record has now been eclipsed. LeBron James broke basketball’s most sacred record on Feb. 9, 2023. The game between the Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder at Cypto.com Arena was paused for a few minutes after LeBron set the all-time mark with a fadeaway jumper from about 15 feet with 10 seconds left in the third quarter.

“Chick Hearn, I’m sorry. LeBron was listening to you,” said former Laker James Worthy, who was in Las Vegas in 1984 when Kareem set the all-time mark and witnessed LeBron’s crowning achievement as an analyst for Spectrum SportsNet.

“Had Kareem come [straight] out of high school, we still might be talking about somebody breaking that record,” Worthy said.

Abdul-Jabbar spent four years at UCLA (but wasn’t allowed to play varsity as a freshman) under the great John Wooden. He won three national championships and named NCAA tournament most outstanding player three straight years. He had arguably the most dominant college career. Worthy isn’t wrong when he said had Kareem came into the NBA straight out of high school, the all-time scoring record might not be within reach this season.

A few days prior to setting the record, LeBron reflected on setting the scoring record. He compared it to Hank Aaron’s Major League Baseball home run record — a mark that was thought to be unassailable.

“I think it’s one of the greatest records in sports in general. I think it’s up there with the home run record in baseball. It’s just one of those records that you just don’t ever see or think that will be broken,” James said on Spectrum SportsNet. “I grew up being a historian of all sports and understanding that, I don’t have the number planted in my head, the actual real number. I know it’s 38-something, but I know it’s been Kareem my whole life. So it’s pretty cool, it’s pretty cool.”

Hearn accurately painted 39 years ago what it would take to surpass Kareem. That player must play at least average 25 points per game for 15 years straight and be physically fit enough to play the majority of the 82-game grind.

LeBron checked all the boxes.

LeBron averaged at least 25 points per game (27.2 points to be exact), played at least 70 games in 13 of his 20 years in the league, and there was never a point in his career that he was not in tremendous physical shape.

As long as he can remain healthy he could possibly reach 40,000 points. He said he wants to play with son, Bronny, before he hangs up his sneakers. Bronny James won’t be draft eligible until 2024, so LeBron will at least play two more seasons.

It would be foolish to say LeBron’s scoring record will never be broken. But it’ll be a tough mountain to climb.

Despite the return of Kobe Bryant, the Lakers are off their worst start since the 1957-58 season. (GETTY IMAGES)

The look on Kobe Bryant’s face said it best.

After dropping a game to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night, Bryant walked off the Staples Center court shaking his head and looking dejected. His Lakers fell to 0-5. It is the worst start in Lakers history since the 1957-58 season when the team was still in Minneapolis.

The only people who had a worst night than the Lakers were the Democrats after the party suffered another shellacking in the midterm elections at the hands of the Republicans. The GOP is now in control of both the House and the Senate in eight years.

It seems like it has been eight years since the last time the Lakers won an NBA game.

The start of the 2014-15 season for the Lakers is about as bad as President Barack Obama’s approval rating. L.A. is struggling to stop dribble penetration, and it doesn’t have the rim protector to erase any defensive mistakes.

The Lakers are also struggling to find consistency on offense. Bryant did have 39 points against the Suns, but he was 14-for-37 from the field.

“Kobe sees the people around him and there’s nobody out there who can score except maybe for Jeremy Lin,” former Lakers standout Michael Cooper said on Time Warner Cable Sports Network. “But at the same time he has to make the players around him better. You have to be able to kick that basketball out and trust your teammates to get shots.

“But that’s Kobe being Kobe. He’s doing everything he can to try to get a win.”

Bryant said he was just being aggressive, and didn’t think the volume of shots was the reason why his team lost. But NBA Hall-of-Famer James Worthy thinks 37 shots is way too many, even for someone with the talent of Kobe.

“That’s almost 40 shots. That’s a lot of shots,” Worthy said. “It would take me three games or four games to get 40 shots. This is Kobe. Kobe is competitive, man. He has the drive. And if no one else is doing anything he’s just gonna go for it.”

It’s hard to blame Bryant for hijacking the offense. Look around the Lakers roster and you’d be hard pressed to find someone who you can honestly say is a legitimate NBA starter other than Kobe.

Lin and Jordan Hill are nice complementary players, but they’re better coming off the bench. That would have been Lin’s primary role if Steve Nash was still active. Wesley Johnson is another in a long line of Syracuse players who became NBA busts. And the Lakers are finding out why the Chicago Bulls couldn’t wait to unload Carlos Boozer.

If you look deeper into the Lakers bench and you see a bunch of guys who are D-league level. Ronnie Price, Wayne Ellington, Ryan Kelly, Jordan Clarkson, Ed Davis, Xavier Henry and Robert Sacre would be wondering additions to the L.A. D-Fenders. Sacre makes Samaki Walker look like James Worthy.

The only player with a lot of promise is rookie forward Julius Randle. But he’s out for the season with a broken leg.

Lakers fans better used to these shellackings because it’s going to be awhile before this team gets good again.

Magic Johnson and his business partners purchase the Dodgers for $2 billion. (GETTY IMAGES)

KCAL 9 sports reporter Jim Hill broke the news on Tuesday night that the Guggenheim Baseball Management (GBM) group headed by NBA legend Magic Johnson and his business partners former Atlanta Braves executive Stan Kasten, Mark Walter from The Guggenheim Foundation, and Golden State Warriors minority owner Peter Guber have won the bidding war to seize control of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The winning bid was reportedly for $2 billion, which means former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is expected to pocket $1 billion from the new deal. Not bad considering McCourt paid $430 million to purchase the baseball franchise in 2004.

“I’m thrilled, honored, and most of all happy for the fans of Los Angeles,” Johnson told Hill.

Johnson brings an impressive resume to the table. He had a minority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers and his Magic Johnson Enterprises has been one of the most successful businesses in Southern California. Johnson, a five-time world champion as a player with the Lakers, also brings a wealth of star power and championship pedigree to the Dodgers franchise, which could certainly help the team in bringing big-name free agents.

Reaction to the new ownership group has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We all know the stature of Magic and what he brings to an organization, what he brought to the city of L.A. for many years as a player and has continued it as a businessman and a civic figure. It’s exciting,” Dodgers general manager Ned Colleti told KCAL 9.

“They bring a lot of experience with Magic being in basketball and Stan being in baseball. Stan has been a very, very successful baseball executive for many years,” said former Dodgers longtime manager and special assistant Tom Lasorda.

“He is the perfect owner. He knows how to build winners,” said KCAL 9 basketball studio analyst and former Lakers forward James Worthy, Magic’s longtime teammate.

“There’s a new dawn in Los Angeles, and the torch has been passed,” said former Dodger great Steve Garvey.

The $2 billion price tag makes the Dodgers the most valuable sports team in the world, surpassing Manchester United ($1.86 billion), the Dallas Cowboys ($1.81B), the New York Yankees ($1.7B), the Washington Redskins ($1.55B), and Real Madrid ($1.4B).