Why do we love Coop? No one has so completely owned a single major-league sport in the United States like Cynthia Cooper. The shooting guard for the Houston Comets, Cooper has been called the Michael Jordan of the WNBA, but she's dominated her realm more than Mike ever did. One of seven children raised by a strict single mother in a tough LA neighborhood, Coop never touched a basketball until she was 16. She ran track and played softball, until a line drive to her face made her rethink her sport of choice. Once she picked up the basketball, there was no stopping her. Coop achieved all a woman could in basketball throughout college, to the European leagues, and the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games. Greatly influenced by her mother Mary, whom she called "my MVP,"Coop's happiest moment was adorning her mother with the Olympic Gold medal she won in Seoul. When America finally came to its senses and launched a professional women's basketball league in 1997, Coop signed with the Houston Comets. She would go on to win the nascent league's first three MVP awards, and take all four Championship MVP honors while leading the Comets to four WNBA titles. During the 1998 season, Coop nursed her mother, who was suffering through breast cancer and its treatment, while maintaining her outstanding level of play. Mary Cooper died in 1998, followed soon after by one of Coop's closest friends. Coop became a strong supporter of the WNBA's breast cancer awareness and fundraising efforts. After her final triumphant season in 2000, where she once again led the league, Coop announced she was retiring from the game and the league she made great. She has inspired little girls on courts all over the country to say, "Forget Mike, I wanna be like Coop!" Biography: Born - April 14, 1963 St. Louis, Missouri Achievements: Won national championships with USC in 1983 and 1984 and made three NCAA Final Four appearances as a member of the Lady Trojans. Member of the 1988 gold-medal and 1992 bronze medal-winning U.S. Olympic teams. Played for U.S. in the Goodwill Games (1986, 1990), World Championship (1986, 1990), and Pan Am Games (1987-gold medal). Played overseas for Segovia in Spain (1986-87) and Parma (1987-94 and 1996-97) and Alcamo (1994-96) in Italy and led her league in scoring eight times in ten seasons. Named MVP of the 1987 European All-Star Game and won the European League three-point contest in 1988 and 1992. Was the leading scorer (37.5 ppg) in the 1996 European Cup. The WNBA's all-time scoring leader. A member of the four-time WNBA champion Houston Comets in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Was named MVP of the WNBA Championship in all four years; she has been the only championship MVP the league has ever had. Selected to the All-WNBA First Team in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Led the WNBA in scoring in 1997 (22.2 ppg), 1998 (22.7 ppg), and 1999 (22.1 ppg), in three-pointers made in 1997 (67) and 1998 (64), and in three-pointers attempted in 1998 (160). Named the winner of the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award in both 1997 and 1998. Holds WNBA single-game records for free-throw percentage (22 of 24) and single-game scoring with 44 points. The Women's Sports Foundation honored Cooper with its annual Team Sportswoman award in 1998. Voted a Western Conference starter in the WNBA's first two All-Star Games, 1999 and 2000. In 1999, Cooper published her autobiography, She Got Game: A Personal Odyssey. Voted Female Player of the Century by readers of the Italian magazine Superbasket and a committee of players and coaches. In her own words -- On the fire inside: "The one thing I've had all my life is this fire that burns inside of me, that says I can do it, I can accomplish anything I've set my mind to, I get it from my mother, and I never let anyone put out that fire inside of me."   March 29   •   March 31 Home