Te'a Omari Cooper (born April 16, 1997) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who is a free agent in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). She played for the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

. She played college basketball for the Baylor Lady Bears,

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

, and the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

High school career

Cooper played high school basketball for

McEachern High School John McEachern High School or McEachern High School is a public high school established in 1908 in Powder Springs, Georgia, United States. It was originally established as the Seventh District Agricultural and Mechanical School. Due to its hist ...

. In her freshman year,

was undefeated as they finished 33–0. She shot 65 percent from the field. She won three Georgia 6A State titles in 2012, 2014 and 2015, and she was the co-MVP of the 2015 McDonald's All-America game.

Professional career

On April 17, 2020, the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...

selected Cooper as the 18th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft. Due to the global pandemic from COVID-19,

were forced to cut some of their players from the team in May 2020, including Te'a Cooper. The

team took this as an opportunity to transfer some of the

players to play for them, and Cooper was picked to play as a point guard. From her previous college 3-point range (56-of-135 for 41.5%), can prove to the Sparks coach,

Derek Fisher Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Fisher played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Los ...

, how well of a point guard and shooter she can provide for his team, despite her being a rookie. Cooper continues to gain experience and skills from the other players in the

team. Cooper's current average for about 17 minutes in a game consists of making around 7.3 points and having about 2 assists. On August 13, 2020, the

played against the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...

, leading Cooper to have one of her best games of the season with 10 points (5-of-6 shooting) with 3 assists, all within 19 minutes of playing time.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

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2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

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Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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Playoffs

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College

Source

Personal life

Te'a Cooper is the daughter of Omar and Kindall Cooper. She has three siblings: Mia (Imani) and twins Sharife and Omar. Sharife was drafted by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

in 2021. Te'a dated

Dwight Howard Dwight David Howard II (born December 8, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League. He is an NBA champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, five-time All-Defensive Team m ...

and the pair became engaged in 2019. In 2021, Cooper and Howard parted ways. Cooper once dated

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

running back

Alvin Kamara Alvin Mentian Kamara (born July 25, 1995) is an American football running back for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Tennessee after transferring from Hutchinson Community College and wa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Te'a 1997 births Living people American women's basketball players Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Baylor Bears women's basketball players Los Angeles Sparks players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Sportspeople from Montclair, New Jersey Basketball players from Essex County, New Jersey Phoenix Mercury draft picks Point guards