Michael Cooper is among the players born on April 15.
With over 5,000 players in NBA history, at least one player was born on every day of the calendar year – including four leap day ballers. Our day-by-day breakdown of the players born on each day of the year continues.
Below are the most notable NBA players born on April 15.
Walt Hazzard (1942)
Drafted by the Lakers, “The Wizard” was the fifth pick in the 1964 NBA Draft, spending his first three seasons in LA. The guard really found his form when he joined the Seattle SuperSonics in 1967, where he averaged a career-high 24.0 points and 4.2 rebounds along with 6.2 assists per game. That earned him his lone All-Star appearance, and it was his only season in Seattle.
Hazard joined the Atlanta Hawks the following year and finished 12th in MVP voting in 1969-70. He played there for three years before short stints with the Buffalo Braves and Golden State Warriors, then retired with Seattle in 1974. “Hazz” averaged 12.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 4.9 apg throughout his 10-year career.
Michael Cooper (1956)
“Coop” was selected 60th overall in the 1978 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers and played his full 12-year career in LA. During that time, Cooper established himself as one of the best defensive players in NBA history. His progression kickstarted in his third year, making his first of eight straight All-Defensive teams starting in 1980-81. Cooper also finished Top 5 in Defensive Player of the Year voting five times during that span, taking down the award in 1987.
That elite defense was a key piece to a dominant Lakers team, with LA winning five titles during his 12 professional campaigns. He called it a career in 1990, posting averages of 8.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals across 873 games. All of that earned Cooper a spot in the Hall of Fame in 2024.
Want to see every NBA player born on April 15? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:
- Howie McCarty (1919)
- Otto Schnellbacher (1923)
- Walt Hazzard (1942)
- Cliff Williams (1945)
- Marlon Redmond (1955)
- Anthony Roberts (1955)
- Michael Cooper (1956)
- David Pope (1962)
- Mike Smith (1976)
- Travis Hensen (1978)
- Anthony Grundy (1979)
- Raul Lopez (1980)
- Sergei Monia (1983)
- Rodney Carney (1984)
- Miles Norris (2000)
- Filip Petrusev (2000)
