‘Fans followed me home, to the airport’: how NBA players cope with fame

Michael Cooper knew pressure. The NBA’s 1987 Defensive Player of the Year had won five rings with the 1980s Showtime Lakers, blocking shots alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and finishing “Coop-a-loop” passes from Magic Johnson for dunks. But in 2000, things were different. He wasn’t in the game, he was coaching it from the sidelines for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. And despite Cooper being named coach of the year, the Sparks fell short in the playoffs to the Houston Comets.