Cooper vs Fisher — The Showdown for Best Role Player in Lakers History
September 5, 2024
Additional Points:
— Fisher played 915 of his 1,287 games with the Lakers.
— Fisher started 593 of his 915 games with the Lakers.
— Cooper played all 873 games with the Lakers (started 94 games).
— Cooper was 5X All Defensive 1st Team and 3X All Defensive Second Team.
9 comments
For the recent Lakers’ grid, the list is all but full:
• West will win Best Shooter
• Kareem will win Best in Post
But *Best Role Player* will be interesting… The stats in the post are just to help everyone make an informed decision.
I think Horry is the best role player.
Man I’m so conflicted I love both these guys but I think Cooper takes it with his defence. Having Coop win DPOY coming off the bench in a league with young MJ is pretty impressive.
Laker fans are so dumb
IMO, it’s Cooper and that’s not a particularly close contest You can make a coherent and respectable case for Fisher but most of that argument boils down to having better individual moments – to wit, his clutch performances in Game 4 of the 2009 Finals and Game 3 of the 2010 Finals, as well as 0.4.
Cooper though? He was a more integral part of overall more complete teams. He was probably the best perimeter defender in the league for about a half decade – if you don’t believe me, ask Larry Bird. Once when both Coop and Magic were injured, Magic said it was like missing six players because they both played so many positions. He was the original 3+D wing before that term even entered basketball vernacular. Hell, he even has three separate Chickisms – the Coop-a-loop (fast break lobs), the Cooper Scoop (his chasedown blocks) and the Copper Hoop (the triples)
Fisher has more iconic moments of greatness, but Cooper was absolutely the more iconic player. It’s a testament to D-Fish’s legacy that you can talk about it in the same breath as Cooper’s career, but Coop is without question the GOAT Laker role-played.
I’m going Fish for playoffs, Coop had a better Lakers Career. But we don’t get to a lot of chips without big shots from Fish. IMO Coop was Integral, but only necessary against the Celtics.
I love Fisher, but obviously Coop.
Cooper was a better role player because you could put him on the other team’s best player. Fisher made more clutch shots though.
But where do you draw the line for a role player? Byron Scott was really good, but was he a role player? Rick Fox? Lamar Odom? Robert Horry? I think all of those guys have an argument for being better players than Cooper and Fisher.
Fish hit more iconic shots, but Coop was the original 3 and D.
He made life so hard for opposing guards and wings, while being able to space the floor for Kareem and Worthy.
9 comments
For the recent Lakers’ grid, the list is all but full:
• West will win Best Shooter
• Kareem will win Best in Post
But *Best Role Player* will be interesting… The stats in the post are just to help everyone make an informed decision.
I think Horry is the best role player.
Man I’m so conflicted I love both these guys but I think Cooper takes it with his defence. Having Coop win DPOY coming off the bench in a league with young MJ is pretty impressive.
Laker fans are so dumb
IMO, it’s Cooper and that’s not a particularly close contest You can make a coherent and respectable case for Fisher but most of that argument boils down to having better individual moments – to wit, his clutch performances in Game 4 of the 2009 Finals and Game 3 of the 2010 Finals, as well as 0.4.
Cooper though? He was a more integral part of overall more complete teams. He was probably the best perimeter defender in the league for about a half decade – if you don’t believe me, ask Larry Bird. Once when both Coop and Magic were injured, Magic said it was like missing six players because they both played so many positions. He was the original 3+D wing before that term even entered basketball vernacular. Hell, he even has three separate Chickisms – the Coop-a-loop (fast break lobs), the Cooper Scoop (his chasedown blocks) and the Copper Hoop (the triples)
Fisher has more iconic moments of greatness, but Cooper was absolutely the more iconic player. It’s a testament to D-Fish’s legacy that you can talk about it in the same breath as Cooper’s career, but Coop is without question the GOAT Laker role-played.
I’m going Fish for playoffs, Coop had a better Lakers Career. But we don’t get to a lot of chips without big shots from Fish. IMO Coop was Integral, but only necessary against the Celtics.
I love Fisher, but obviously Coop.
Cooper was a better role player because you could put him on the other team’s best player. Fisher made more clutch shots though.
But where do you draw the line for a role player? Byron Scott was really good, but was he a role player? Rick Fox? Lamar Odom? Robert Horry? I think all of those guys have an argument for being better players than Cooper and Fisher.
Fish hit more iconic shots, but Coop was the original 3 and D.
He made life so hard for opposing guards and wings, while being able to space the floor for Kareem and Worthy.