CYNTHIA COOPER OF THE HOUSTON COMETS!

Cynthia Cooper, MVP of the WNBA, the Michael Jordan of the WNBA.

Player file

Position: Guard
Born: 04/14/63
Height: 5-10
Weight: 150 lbs.
College: USC '86

Cynthia Cooper is an unbelievable player.
Unanimously named the winner of the WNBA Most Valuable Award for the 1997 season as well as a unanimous selection to the 1997 All-WNBA First Team.
Won national championships with USC in 1983 and 1984 and made three NCAA Final Four appearances as a member of the Lady Trojans Named to 1986 NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team Career stats include 1,559 points, 381 assists from the two-guard slot, and 256 steals
A member of the 1988 gold-medal and 1992 bronze medal-winning U.S. Olympic teams and was the third leading scorer (14.2 ppg) on the 1988 Olympic Team
Also played for U.S. in the Goodwill Games (1986, 1990), World Championship (1986, 1990), and Pan Am Games (1987-gold medal) WNBA Transactions Signed by the WNBA and assigned to the Houston Comets on 1/22/97.

Personal

Majoring in: Physical Education at USC
Didn't start playing basketball until she was 16
Proudest moment: Winning and presenting Olympic gold medal to her mother on her birthday, September 29, 1988
Favorite food: Blackened salmon
Favorite book: A Time To Kill by John Grisham
Favorite movie: The Shawshank Redemption
Favorite actress: Angela Bassett
Favorite actor: Denzel Washington
Favorite singers: Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross
Person she most admires: Her mother, Mary Cobbs
Is fluent in Italian and also speaks Spanish
Has three brothers (Kenneth, Everett, and Charles) and four sisters (Joanne, Drena, Stephanie and Lisa)
Is engaged to marry Gianluca Castaldini, who plays for Dolce Parma in the men's Italian League
Dream trip: To go to the Maldive Islands in Polynesia (South Pacific)

Rankings

Games through June 18, 1999
Ranked 1st in the WNBA in Points Per Game (26.0)
Ranked 4th in the WNBA in Assists Per Game (5.7)
Ranked 5th in the WNBA in Field-Goal Percentage (.595)
Ranked 20th in the WNBA in Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage (.421)
Ranked 15th in the WNBA in Free-Throw Percentage (.833)
Ranked 17th in the WNBA in Steals Per Game (1.67)
Ranked 1st in the WNBA in Three point Field Goals Made (8)
Ranked 6th in the WNBA in Minutes Per Game (34.7)
Ranked 2nd in the WNBA in Minutes Per Game (35.0)

Description

Two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player. Two Championship Game MVP awards. Two WNBA scoring titles. Two unanimous selections to the All-WNBA first team. Need we say more' Cynthia Cooper has been the league's most dominant, most decorated player in its two year history. Cooper can score in transition, shoot the three, go to the basket, create for herself, create for others, rebound the ball, make the pass, run, jump, leap and score. Last season, she ranked first in points per game (22.4), fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.400), fourth in free throw percentage (.854), eighth in assists per game (4.4), and 12th in steals per game (1.6). At USC, Coop was part of two national championship teams. Starting to see a pattern?

Multimedia


Leading the break for the Comets, Sheryl Swoopes dishes the ball to Cynthia Cooper, who finishes with the bucket and the foul in Game 1 of the 1998 championship.
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Anticipating the pass, Houston's Cynthia Cooper steps in, picks it off, and cruises to the other end of the court for the layup.
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Cynthia Cooper puts the Comets up for good, driving and hitting the floating 1 hander, plus the foul.
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Cynthia Cooper of the Houston Comets continues to show why she is the reigning MVP with moves like this underhand scoop in another win.
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