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Calling it quits Comets' Cooper to retire at end of season
Posted: Tuesday July 04, 2000 06:12 PM
HOUSTON (AP) -- Cynthia Cooper, who won the MVP award at the WNBA finals all three years of the league's existence, plans to retire at the end of this season to go into broadcasting or coaching. "This is my last year in the league," the Houston Comets star said Monday night. "I will retire after this year." One of the WNBA's two oldest players, Cooper, 37, was the league's scoring champion in its first three seasons and the regular-season MVP in 1997 and 1998. In this year's season opener, she became the first player in the league to reach 2,000 career points. But she's grown increasingly disgruntled this season about her reduced role in the Comets' offense. With the emergence of Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Janeth Arcain as more potent weapons, Cooper feels her role with the Comets is changing. "I know there's a lot more basketball in me, but I'm not happy," she said. "And I'm not going to play for another team. Houston is where I started. This is where I want to finish." Asked what she'll do next, Cooper said: "I'll always be around basketball. I really want to get into broadcasting, begin a career in broadcasting. "I also want to coach. I want to start coaching in the NBA, as an assistant, get my feet wet, get some experience there and then move on, try something else." She added: "Obviously, this is bittersweet. The bitter part is I have a lot of basketball left in me; I'm still on top of my game. But the sweet part is this is something new I'm getting ready to embark on. It's special, and I'm excited about it." Cooper's retirement would bring to an end a 15-year professional career that began shortly after she came out of Southern Cal as an unheralded member of a two-time NCAA championship team featuring Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller. During 11 years of pro ball overseas, primarily in Italy, Cooper established herself as one of the world's premier offensive players. "There's no question in my mind," Comets coach Van Chancellor said, "Cynthia is the greatest player in the game." But news of Cooper's intentions caught her coach by surprise. "I'd hate to see us lose one of the top five people who have ever played this game. She's a player -- there's just nobody who's played this game that makes plays any better than Cynthia Cooper. She can create for herself, but she's better than anyone else at creating for her teammates, too."
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