Los Angeles Lakers greats Michael Cooper and Jerry West have been named among 14 finalists for the 2024 class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Cooper is a finalist as a player for the second time (2022), and West — already in the Hall of Fame as a player — is being named a finalist for the first time as an executive.
Cooper was one of the defensive anchors of the Showtime Lakers. He played 12 NBA seasons — all with the Lakers — and was named to eight All-Defense Teams, five first team selections and three second team selections. He finished in the top five in Defensive Player of the Year voting five times, winning the award for the 1986-87 season. He did this despite coming off the bench for 80 of the 82 regular season games.
Cooper went to eight NBA Finals in 12 seasons with the Lakers, winning five championships. While he doesn’t get the glory that Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy get, it’s long been known that the Showtime Lakers would not have been what they were without Cooper’s contributions. This is his second time as a finalist, and hopefully he can find his way in on his second try.
West, meanwhile, forged a career as one of the game’s all-time great executives after his Hall of Fame playing career. He made the transition to executive for the 1979-80 season as a scout, where he helped to begin the Showtime dynasty.
He was named the general manager of the Lakers in 1982 and proceeded to win six NBA championships in L.A. over the next 20 seasons. He helped bring all five Showtime titles to L.A. and laid the foundation for the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal dynasty, but he was only with the team for the first of their three titles.
West also helped to usher in the Golden State Warriors dynasty of the 2010s, getting hired by the team in 2011 and bringing them their first championship in 40 years within four years. He won Executive of the Year honors twice, once with the Lakers in 1995, the year before he signed O’Neal and drafted Bryant, and the other in 2004 with the Memphis Grizzlies. West is a no-doubt Hall of Famer as a player and executive.
Below is the full list of 2024 Finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame.
2024 Hall of Fame Finalists
North American Committee Finalists
Chauncey Billups (Player)
Vince Carter (Player)
Michael Cooper (Player)
Walter Davis (Player)
Bo Ryan (Coach)
Charles Smith (Coach)
Women’s Committee Finalists
Seimone Augustus (Player)
Marian Washington (Coach)
Veteran Committee Finalists
Dick Barnett (Player)
Harley Redin (Coach)
International Committee Finalists
Michele Timms (Player)
Contributor Committee Finalists
Doug Collins (Coach/Broadcaster)
Herb Simon (Owner)
Jerry West (Executive)
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