And...it's Super Sub!

Michael Cooper and the rest of the incomparable Los Angeles Lakers are in Denver for the third game in their best-of-five NBA playoff series against the Nuggets. Bouncing in place on a concrete walkway, the Lakers wait in the wings for showtime to commence at McNichols Sports Arena. The Lakers, up by two, seem ready to close this act in style. Cooper is artfully balancing on one size-12½ sneaker. He bends forward. With his right hand he holds his right foot aloft behind his back. His right leg, circling in the air, seems as supple as spaghetti al dente. If he liked, he could rest his chin on his knee from this position. But that wouldn't be warming up. That would be showing off.

Not that he is above showing off. But right now he's just plain Michael Cooper. A nice guy. It is not yet time for him to snatch off his warmups and become ...Cooperman! A 6'7", 177-pound, 31-year-old, nine-year veteran, Cooper isn't a starter and, ideally for the Lakers, never will be.

But he doesn't mind, because he knows coach Pat Riley will call on him late in the first quarter and sometimes earlier, if things aren't going well. When Riley beckons early in this game against the Nuggets, Cooper, the team's defensive stopper, attaches himself to Denver's best offensive player, forward Alex English. Early in the second quarter, the Nuggets lead 42-40. Cooper arches in two floating three-point set shots and the Lakers are off on a 29-14 run. Then, with 20 seconds left in the half and the Lakers on defense, referee Hue Hollins calls L.A. for an illegal zone defense. He singles out Cooper. Zap! Bam! Zowie! Cooper explodes into Cooperman. Now it's time to show off. No more Mr. Nice Guy. "Where?" he demands, pointing down at his foot, which hasn't violated anything. "Where?"

Hollins was half right. The Lakers' Mychal Thompson was illegally deployed. Hollins mistakenly called Cooper for the violation. One of the very few to notice this is Cooper's wife, Wanda. "Good call," she thinks to herself. "On the wrong guy." Cooper is not so understanding. The idea that he, Michael Cooper, would commit an illegal act on defense—and get caught—makes his blood boil. The call stands, of course.

Denver's 6'7" forward, Bill Hanzlik, attempts a jump shot after the next inbounds play. Cooperman elevates, sweeps one spindly arm through the air and redirects Hanzlik's shot into the stands. Careful not to look at Hollins, Cooperman snarls, "Now call a bleeping foul on that!"

After trailing by two, the Lakers out-score the Nuggets 100-61, win 140-103 and eliminate the Nuggets. Cooper scores 14 points. In 22 minutes he grabs four boards, makes a steal, passes out four assists and strangles Denver's offensive traffic. He has shown up everywhere but in the box score. Aside from Magic Johnson, Cooper was the most influential player in the game. Magic starts showtime, but Cooperman ends it.

This is not news to the Lakers. "In an era of specialization, Mike does many things," says six-time NBA MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. "He's a true swingman, a backup point guard, a three-point shooter. And yes, a true stopper. He challenges everybody."

"Coop has the heart of a lion," says soon-to-be first-time NBA MVP Johnson. "He doesn't care who you are. Big man, little man. Mike says, what you'll have to do is whip him all night, until the lights go out, because he won't back up. So we won't back up. He'll holler 'C'mon, let's go.' And we have to follow him. He's our inspirational player.' "

"He's one of the most versatile players ever to play in the league," says Laker coach Pat Riley. "A perfect player. His role is to supply. Supply what? Everything, I'd say."

"He's probably the best athlete in the NBA," says Laker radio broadcaster Keith Erickson. "He does things other basketball players wouldn't dream of doing." Indeed, Cooper may not always fill up the box score, but he does wonders for the imagination. He has inspired a full lexicon of Cooperisms. There is the Coop-a-Loop, coined for the alley-oop pass from Johnson, looking toward Catalina, which Cooper slams in backward, forward, or ways others might only be able to imagine. Then there is the Cooper Hoop, play-by-play man Chick Hearn's description of the three-point set shot Cooper has become so adept at hitting over the years. He made four of five in the final game against Denver, giving him 48 for his playoff career, a total equalled only by Larry Bird. Then there is the Cooper Scoop, a Cooper steal or blocked shot—especially a block that turns an opponent's apparent fast break layup into another showtime showstopper. When an opposing guard breaks away, with Cooper hot on his heels, Hearn has been known to say, "Coop will block this." You can just imagine Chick puffing on his fingernails and polishing them on his lapel as Cooper, sure enough, makes him a prophet.