Artis Wayne Cooper (November 16, 1956 – April 11, 2022) was an American professional basketball player in the United States.
He was born in the Georgian city of Milan. Cooper was the all-time leader in blocks for the Denver Nuggets when he retired.
Cooper was drafted in the second round (40th overall) of the 1978 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors. Cooper, a 6 ft 10 in (2.1 m) forward-center who attended the University of New Orleans, appeared in 14 NBA seasons between 1978 and 1992.
He was a member of the Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers (twice), and Denver Nuggets.
Cooper appeared in 984 games for the NBA and scored a total of 7,777 points. Cooper had a significant part in the Trail Blazers sweeping their rival Seattle SuperSonics in the first round of the 1983 NBA Playoffs, in his first playoff appearance, by averaging 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game in the series.
Cooper’s finest season as a professional may have been with the Nuggets in 1985-86, when he started 78 games and averaged 13.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game.
Cooper blocked a career-high nine shots in a 134-95 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on December 11, 1985.
Cooper went on to play in the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992, both with the Trail Blazers.
Cooper served as the Sacramento Kings’ Vice President of Basketball Operations from 1996 through 2013.
Wayne Cooper Career stats and Records
|
Year
|
Team
|
GP
|
Min
|
Pts
|
FG%
|
3pt%
|
Reb
|
Ast
|
Stl
|
Blk
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1991
|
Trail Blazers
|
35
|
9.8
|
2.2
|
42.7
|
–
|
2.9
|
0.6
|
0.1
|
0.8
|
|
1990
|
Trail Blazers
|
67
|
11.1
|
2.2
|
39.3
|
0.0
|
2.8
|
0.3
|
0.1
|
0.9
|
|
1989
|
Trail Blazers
|
79
|
14.9
|
3.8
|
45.4
|
0.0
|
4.3
|
0.6
|
0.2
|
1.2
|
|
1988
|
Nuggets
|
79
|
23.6
|
6.6
|
49.5
|
25.0
|
7.8
|
1.0
|
0.5
|
2.7
|
|
1987
|
Nuggets
|
45
|
19.2
|
6.4
|
43.7
|
0.0
|
6.0
|
0.7
|
0.3
|
2.1
|
|
1986
|
Nuggets
|
69
|
22.6
|
8.0
|
44.8
|
0.0
|
6.9
|
1.0
|
0.2
|
1.5
|
|
1985
|
Nuggets
|
78
|
27.1
|
13.1
|
46.6
|
42.9
|
7.8
|
1.0
|
0.5
|
2.9
|
|
1984
|
Nuggets
|
80
|
25.4
|
12.1
|
47.2
|
0.0
|
7.9
|
1.1
|
0.3
|
2.5
|
|
1983
|
Trail Blazers
|
81
|
20.5
|
9.8
|
45.9
|
0.0
|
5.9
|
0.9
|
0.3
|
1.3
|
|
1982
|
Trail Blazers
|
80
|
26.2
|
9.7
|
44.3
|
0.0
|
7.6
|
1.5
|
0.3
|
1.7
|
|
1981
|
Mavericks
|
76
|
23.9
|
9.0
|
42.0
|
12.5
|
7.2
|
1.5
|
0.5
|
1.4
|
|
1980
|
Jazz
|
71
|
20.0
|
6.9
|
45.2
|
33.3
|
6.2
|
0.7
|
0.3
|
0.7
|
|
1979
|
Warriors
|
79
|
22.5
|
11.0
|
48.9
|
25.0
|
6.4
|
0.5
|
0.3
|
1.0
|
|
1978
|
Warriors
|
65
|
12.2
|
4.6
|
43.7
|
–
|
4.3
|
0.3
|
0.1
|
0.7
|
|
Career
|
984
|
20.6
|
7.9
|
45.7
|
14.6
|
6.2
|
0.9
|
0.3
|
1.6
|
