Lakers legend Michael Cooper, a former Defensive Player of the Year and five-time champion with Los Angeles throughout the 1980s, sent a wildly scathing message on the marque offseason addition for the Boston Celtics this past summer, Kristaps Porzingis, on his “Showtime with Coop” podcast — claiming that the Latvian “looks like a Celtic” and was a flop at his previous two NBA destinations.
“Who the hell is he?” Cooper said about Porzingis. “The one thing I’ll say about him is he looks like a Celtic. That guy there was a flop in Dallas, was a flop in Washington. He’s an international player, and he was brought over here to be a marquee player.” Cooper claimed that losing Marcus Smart — a direct result of the Porzingis trade — and Grant Williams in restricted free agency caused the Cs to take several steps back.
“The Boston Celtics take three steps back,” Cooper said. “How do you do that? You lose Grant Williams. You (expletive) around and lose Marcus Smart, your heart and soul of your team.”
Michael Cooper: Boston Celtics ‘over-signed’ Jaylen Brown
Cooper was far less harsh on Jaylen Brown but did claim that the Boston Celtics “over-signed” the former No. 3 overall pick to the richest contract in the history of the NBA up until now.
“I love Jaylen Brown, but I think he was over-signed,” Cooper said. “It’s going to cause a lot of turmoil. A great contract for him, but with big money, comes big responsibility. You can’t go hide and can’t go stand on the side, you can’t be missing shots. You can’t fake hurt. You’ve gotta play through some pain now.”
Cooper’s Brown take was far more measured and far less personal than the Porzingis shot was, though all of his opinions are shared by fans who will forever loathe the Lucky logo.