Cooper finally gets respect!!!! I love it.

[Godfather13]

As for Fich, he kinda skipped town for those two years to peak out in the enemy's colors.. lol

[Godfather13]

I think Fisher should totally have his jersey retired. It's a farce that he doesn't

It's not for role-players.

I don't know if you were around through Fisher's career....but he was much more than a role-player. Kobe owes much of his success to Fisher, whether he would have ever admitted it or not. The 2008 season when we got to the finals, was mostly considered to be because of Pau. But I disagree. We got Fisher back....and just like a snap of the fingers...that team was 3 times better than before.

(You might remember this was the offseason that Kobe demanded a trade, had publicly called Bynum out. Things were in total chaos, and the Lakers had been floundering for about 4 years)

There were 10 50+ win teams in the west that year....and we were in first place when Bynum got hurt. I think we were in 2nd when we got Pau. Had Bynum never got hurt....I'm pretty sure we woulda made the finals without Pau. I attribute a huge part of that to Fisher. You will remember we didn't pick up Ariza till the window either....so there was a different reason we 'suddenly' snapped together and became this awesome team.

Go watch 4th quarter of game 3 of the 2010 finals. We had split our two games at home, and moved to Boston. Fisher scored the last 9-10 points for us that game. We don't win game 3 without Fisher, and therefore don't win the series.

Can you tell the "story of the Lakers" without Fisher? Absolutely not. I feel the same about Cooper. They were so much more important than their stat-lines. I'd like to see Scott, AC Green, Horry up there too...but I really can't say that they meant as much to the Lakers as Fisher or Cooper did.

I rate Fisher as meaning much more to Laker history than Pau. Love me some Pau....but Fisher was a greater Laker.

Pau among like 8-9 other names not being in the NBA Top 75, takes all of that list's credibility away. Some absolute wankers in that list and HOF tbh.

[LAKESHOW]

I'm not gonna say this guys deserving. This guy sucks and should not be in. Its kinda all mangled and twisted because of our history. We have guys that should be on mount Rushmore of all time greats. We have players who just cannot reach those lofty heights, but are deserving. There are franchises just throwing anyone up on the wall, because they simply don't have anyone or any history and are just throwing dudes out there. Our history is difficult to gage, because everyone's opinion is valid. There are tons of opinions to the affirmative as well as the negative. We just simply have that great of a historical record of players who have played for this organization.
So COOP! A Die Hard Laker through and through. I say Congrats!

[danfantastk32]

I'm not gonna say this guys deserving. This guy sucks and should not be in. Its kinda all mangled and twisted because of our history. We have guys that should be on mount Rushmore of all time greats. We have players who just cannot reach those lofty heights, but are deserving. There are franchises just throwing anyone up on the wall, because they simply don't have anyone or any history and are just throwing dudes out there. Our history is difficult to gage, because everyone's opinion is valid. There are tons of opinions to the affirmative as well as the negative. We just simply have that great of a historical record of players who have played for this organization.
So COOP! A Die Hard Laker through and through. I say Congrats!

Well luckily in this case, the Laker's criteria has always been you need to make the HoF. If your a HoFer....you get your jersey retired. It's that simple. And Coop got into this HoF this year. So he's as legit as anyone else. More deserving than some...and less deserving than others, IMO. He was one of my fave players back in the day.......and frankly I feel like anyone who was a big part of showtime deserves to be recognized for what they did, and what it meant to the NBA. Same with that Celtics team.

What those two teams did...and what they meant to the NBA. I think anyone who was a real part of that was more than just the sum of their stats. I get there are guys who joined either team half-way through...or left/retired just as it was getting started...or whatever. But Cooper was a Laker from 78 to 90....so he was there the whole time. I think he absolutely belongs in the story of the NBA...just like everyone from those two teams.

And I'm giving it to him just for being there.....nevermind that he was a huge part of our success.

[Danny Darko]

great speech

Read on Twitter

[danfantastk32]

great speech

Read on Twitter

Yeah....beautiful. I didn't know he went to PCC. I did a few semesters at PCC, and GCC (Glendale) back in the day. That's cool. Such a classy guy. I loved Coop....this couldn't have happened to a truer "Laker" imo.