Game 11: Michael Cooper - Green Chile Chicken Burritos

Only one other player besides Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar suited up for all five of the Showtime Lakers championship teams.: Pasadena native Michael Cooper, the team’s venerable 6th man and one of the best defensive players the Association ever saw. The Lakers only retire the numbers of Hall of Famers or no-brainer-soon-to-be-in-Springfield players, but there’s arguably no Laker more deserving of having his number enshrined in the rafters of Staples Center, right up there next to Taylor Swift’s record 16 sold out concerts.

Coop, as he’s almost always referred to by fans/teammates/humans, had the type of rail thin body that causes faces to contort into a cringe every time they drive towards the basket. He made Brandon Ingram look like Shaq back when he was eating himself into a toe injury every summer. As a consequence of not being able to put on any serious weight, Coop suffered injuries as a youth that prevented him from playing football and, later, a torn MCL that knocked him out for his rookie season. But by the time he got back on the court, he used his length and quick feet to stymie and annoy opposing players, gradually grinding them into dust over the course of long playoff series. Despite only starting an average of 10 games a year, Coop was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team eight times and won the 1987 Defensive Player of the Year Award. His career averages of 8.9 points, 4.2 assists, and 1.2 steals mask his key role on the team of the 1980s. According to Larry Bird, Coop was the hardest defender he played against. Coop likely also wore the highest socks of any player he went up against. Knee highs!

By 1990, Coop’s 34 year old body had begun to fail him and a trade or release seemed imminent. According to Jeff Pearlman’s Showtime, Dr. Jerry Buss invited Coop to dinner and offered him an incredibly generous 5 year contract to learn the front office under GM Jerry West. Coop declined and played overseas for a year, but soon returned and took Dr. Buss up on his offer. After 5 years as West’s special assistant -- and after likely realizing that his ex-teammate and front office colleague Mitch Kupchak was in line to succeed West -- Coop focused his post-playing career on coaching. After a stint as a Lakers assistant coach, Coop has coached the WNBA’s Sparks and Dream, the NBA’s Nuggets, the NBA G-League’s Thunderbirds, and the USC women’s basketball team, winning three titles with the Sparks and Thunderbirds. And he’s still coaching, this time with 3’s Company of Ice Cube’s gimmicky yet persistent three-on-three league, Big3.

Coop’s the type of player I wish I had the pleasure to watch over many long, grueling playoff runs. I’ve been blessed to watch the lockdown defense of Ron Artest, the versatility of Lamar Odom, and the leadership of pre-fucking-his-teammate’s-wife Derek Fisher, but never got to witness all those qualities in one player. No disrespect to Kareem Rush, Josh Powell, and Ronny Turiaf, but the Staples Center clubhouse manager should’ve said “Number’s taken” when they all asked to wear #21. “You didn’t win 5 championships and you didn’t have a 1-800 hotline number for troubled teens who needed advice from the 1987 Defensive Player of the Year.”

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Green Chili Chicken Burritos

2 large cans Ortega green chilies

1 large onion diced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon butter

Shredded lettuce

Finely diced tomato

6 chicken thighs

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tomato (optional)

Flour tortillas

Grated cheddar cheese

Small onion finely diced

In a large pan over medium heat, brown chicken, large onion, and garlic butter. Cook until chicken is done, but not falling off the bone; do not allow to stick to bottom of pan. Add chilies and two cans of water. Salt and pepper to taste. Add tomato to stew if too hot to your taste. Simmer, stirring often for about 30 minutes. Remove bones and your stew is ready.

Place tortillas in a hot skillet, for a quick minute, to heat each side. Using a slotted spoon, place some stew on the middle of the tortilla. Sprinkle with finely diced tomatoes, onions, grated cheese, and lettuce. Roll or fold tortilla around stew. Garnish with lettuce, tomato, onion, and cheese and spoon little more stew on top.

This stew is also delicious over scrambled eggs, baked or stewed potatoes, or simply alone.

“Ole! Dig in with a beer or margarita!”

As I mentioned earlier, Cooper was a string bean of a player with a metabolism as hardworking as himself. To keep any kind of weight on and compete in nearly 100 games a season, Cooper had to eat copious amounts of food. In the World Championship Los Angeles Lakers Are Cookin’ Family Cookbook, Coop says that he ate a light pre-game meal of lean protein followed by a midnight feast fit for a king.”I’m getting away from red meat and butter because my family has a history of high blood pressure,” he said. “But after a game I still might eat a nice big steak, two baked potatoes, two ears of corn, 8 to 10 slices of bread, and have a quart of milk or a couple of beers.

“After that, I might have a quart of ice cream and a big slice of apple pie. About half the pie. Then I might be through for the night, unless I find some cookies laying around, and a little glass of milk. Then I can go to sleep real good.”

Jesus Christ, Coop!

I am not a great Mexican cook. My mom is white, so there weren’t going to be any lessons passed down from her to me. And I grew up in Los Angeles, surrounded by cheap, delicious Mexican food. I’ve lived my entire life in Southern California and the Central Coast. Why cook Mexican food when an infinitely better option at $5 is literally around the corner?

This dish was a snap to make, except for two problems. The first came when it was time to remove the meat from the bone. I’m very impatient when I’m hungry, so I burned my finger tips all over in trying to get as much meat off the steaming hot chicken. The second is that I have no idea how to roll a burrito. It’s an art passed down through many generations of people with Aztec blood flowing through their veins. Just not this Aztec. I rolled it as tight as I could, flipped it upside down, and then poured the stew and other condiments on top of my “burritos” -- more like flautas.

And how did they taste? The stew’s flavor profile was more complex than you’d think given the basic ingredients. But I won’t be abandoning all my favorite Mexican stands anytime soon.