Artis Wayne Cooper (November 16, 1956 – April 11, 2022) was 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 played fourteen seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). Nicknamed "Coop", he played for the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

, Utah Jazz,

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

, Portland Trail Blazers, and

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

from 1978 to 1992. He was the

’ all-time leader in blocks when he left the franchise in 1989. After his playing career ended, he worked as an executive with the Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings.

Early life

Cooper was born in

Milan, Georgia Milan ( ) is a city in Dodge and Telfair counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 700 at the 2010 census, down from 1,012 in 2000. History Milan was founded in the 1880s when the railroad was extended to that point. The Georgia ...

, on November 16, 1956. He attended Telfair County High School in his home county. He then studied at

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

(UNO) after being scouted by its associate coach, Don Smith, who described Cooper as a "tall, skinny kid who could really shoot". He played basketball for the New Orleans Privateers from 1974 and 1978. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

, he averaged 12.1

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

(PPG) and a team-leading 9.4

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game (RPG), to go along with a .504 field goal percentage and a .723

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

percentage. He then bettered his PPG to 13.2 and RPG to 10.1 the following year. During his

senior year Senior Year may refer to: * Senior (education), the final year in high school or college * ''Senior Year'' (2010 film), the 2010 film by Filipino director Jerrold Tarog * ''Senior Year'' (2022 film), a film starring Rebel Wilson * The Lockheed U-2 ...

in 1977–78, Cooper recorded 18.1 PPG and 12.7 RPG as the Privateers won the Sun Belt tournament championship. He also established school records of most consecutive games with double-digit rebounding totals (13) and most consecutive games with a double-double (11) that year. Cooper received two All-Sun Belt selections during his college career and was honored as

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — des ...

Player of the Year as a senior. He was selected in the 2nd round of the 1978 NBA draft by the

Career

Cooper made his NBA debut on October 14, 1978, scoring two points to go along with two rebounds against the

San Diego Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

. He played 65 games during his rookie season, averaging 4.6 PPG. After improving his PPG to 11.0 in the 1979–80 season and finishing ninth in offensive rebound percentage (12.1) in the NBA, he was traded to the Utah Jazz on September 11, 1980, in exchange for Bernard King. He was traded again less than a year later to the

, together with

Allan Bristow Allan Mercer Bristow, Jr. (born August 23, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. Bristow played college basketball at Virginia Tech, and was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of ...

, for

Bill Robinzine William Clintard Robinzine (January 20, 1953 – September 16, 1982) was an American professional basketball player. Born in Chicago, Robinzine grew to be a 6' 7" forward from DePaul University. He played seven seasons (1975– 1982) in ...

. Cooper was subsequently traded for the third time in three seasons on June 28, 1982, to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for

Kelvin Ransey Kelvin Ransey (born May 3, 1958) is a retired American collegiate and professional basketball player of the 1970s and 1980s, respectively. Ransey attended Toledo's Macomber High School in the mid-1970s. He was a four-year starter at Ohio State U ...

. In the

1983 NBA playoffs The 1983 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1982–83 season. This was the final postseason using the 12-team format and this is the final postseason held of best of 3 series in first round, befor ...

, his first playoff appearance, Cooper played a key role in the Trail Blazers sweeping the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round by averaging 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks a game in the series. However, the Trail Blazers ultimately lost in the semifinals to the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. He was eventually traded with

Fat Lever Lafayette "Fat" Lever (; born August 18, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. He later served as the director of player development for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA as we ...

and Calvin Natt to the

on June 7, 1984, in exchange for Kiki VanDeWeghe. In his first season with the franchise, Cooper recorded the second-highest block percentage (5.4) in the NBA behind

Mark Eaton Mark Edward Eaton (January 24, 1957 – May 28, 2021) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire career (1982–1993) with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Named an NBA All-Star in 1989, he wa ...

, as well as fourth-most blocks (197) and fourth-highest blocks per game (2.5). During the 1985–86 season – arguably Cooper’s best season as a professional – he started 78 games for the Nuggets and averaged 13.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game. He finished third in the league in block percentage (5.9), fourth in blocks (227), and fourth in blocks per game. He also committed the third-highest number of personal fouls (315). Also that season, on December 11, 1985, he blocked a then-career-high 9 shots in a 134–95 win against the Los Angeles Clippers. He subsequently bettered that mark on December 30, 1988, when he blocked 10 shots in a 109–83 over the Miami Heat. He had the third-highest block percentage (6.4), sixth-most blocks (211), seventh-highest blocks per game (2.7), and tenth-highest total rebound percentage (17.1) in the league in 1988–89. Cooper became an unrestricted free agent at the end of that season, whereupon he returned to the Trail Blazers. He later appeared in the

1990 NBA Finals The 1990 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1989–90 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The series pitted the defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference playoff champion De ...

and

1992 NBA Finals The 1992 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1991–92 NBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls took on the Western Conference champion Portland ...

, both with the Trail Blazers. The franchise lost to the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls, respectively. Throughout his NBA career, Cooper played in 984 games and scored a total of 7,777 points in the regular season.

Later life

After retiring as a player at the end of the 1991–92 season, Cooper remained with the Trail Blazers and worked in its front office for two years. He subsequently became an assistant coach and director of basketball services of the Sacramento Kings in 1994. Two years later, he was promoted to vice president of basketball operations and served in that capacity until 2013. Cooper was part of the inaugural class inducted into the University of New Orleans Hall of Fame in 1988. Four years later, he was enshrined in the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. He was named to the Sun Belt Conference's All-Time Men's Basketball Team in 1995. He was later inducted into the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation Hall of Fame in 2000. Prior to the 2019–20 season, Cooper finished runner-up in voting by a panel of New Orleans basketball experts to determine the greatest basketball player in Privateers history. At the time of his death, he was ranked second all-time at UNO in double-doubles (44), third in career rebounds (920), and fifteenth in career points (1,209).

Personal life

Cooper was married to Denise until his death. They had three daughters together. Cooper died on April 11, 2022. He was 65, and suffered from

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Inflammation can ...

prior to his death.

References

External links