Forget LeBron James, the jersey number that Robert Horry wants the Lakers to retire

A couple of weeks ago, the Lakers governor and owner Jeanie Buss made a surprising statement, she said that once LeBron James retires from the NBA, the star will see his jersey number retired to the rafters.

While not completely opposed to the idea, the former Laker Robert Horry thinks is unfair that the showtime era legend Michael Cooper deserves his jersey number to be retired to the rafters too.

“I base everything off Michael Cooper. You know, it is just so hard for me when you retire a guy’s number and you don’t retire Michael Cooper’s number. And it is just, to me, it don’t…nobody should go before him. You know, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, help win championships. He always guarded the people that Magic couldn’t.”

“It’s just so many things that, you know, and that goes to show you have people in the league and NBA and across. They don’t appreciate defense unless you’re Ben Wallace or Dennis Rodman. And I just think that if you retire LeBron’s jersey, you gotta retire Michael Cooper’s ‘cause he’s just a Laker legend to me.”

The reasons why Cooper deserves his jersey number to be retired

Cooper, the 60th overall pick of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Lakers is as underrated as a player could get. Known for his man-to-man defense, he could lock up the most lethal players and was instrumental in the team, that won five titles during the 80s. In his 12 seasons in the NBA, Cooper was outstanding with a resume that saw him named to five All-Defensive First Teams, three All-Defensive Second Teams, and was the NBA’s 1987 Defensive Player of the Year winner.