His sister is the ex-wife of legendary NBA center Dwight Howard, his father is a big boss of a well-known sports brand, he once drove millions of luxury cars to participate in the NBA draft, why did he cross the ocean to the CBA, and why did he join the Liaoning team?
With Guo Allen unable to play due to injury, Liaoning tried to sign another small foreign player to share the pressure on Zhao Jiwei and Fogg, and in the final stage of the regular season, the team replaced the poor Adams and signed the 22-year-old Sherif Cooper, a player who is not only young, but also has a lot of background.
His father, Omar Cooper, was a former professional basketball player who played in Europe and South America, and after retiring from the game, he started his own business and is now the owner of a well-known sports brand (LifeStyle Sports), influenced by his father, Cooper and his sister played basketball since childhood, and later the sister became a player for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, and also tied the knot with Howard, but later parted ways.
Like his sister, Cooper was an outstanding player who shone in high school, averaging 28.6 points, 8.6 assists and 4.1 steals per game in his junior season, leading the team to 32 wins, and was named MaxPreps Player of the Year for his outstanding performance, and the only senior winner of the award. In his senior year of high school, he was out of control, averaging 30.6 points, 7.8 assists and 3.6 steals per game, becoming a five-star high school student in the class of 2020 and being selected for the McDonald's All-Star Game.
Later, he entered Auburn University and represented the varsity team in the NCAA, averaging 20.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 1 steal per game.
At the end of his freshman year, he confidently announced his participation in the NBA draft, and unlike most draft players from poor families, he not only wore a custom designer suit, but also drove Cullinan worth millions to participate in the draft, becoming the focus of attention outside the draft venue, but after entering the draft venue, he became bleak.
Watching the players next to him being inaugurated one after another by NBA commissioner Xiao Huanian, Cooper's mood became more and more depressed, and he was expected to be selected in the first round, and he finally fell to the 48th pick, being selected by the Atlanta Hawks. The reason for the plummeting draft pick is that his height is injected with water, his personal information is written as 1.91 meters, but in fact, he is only 1.85 meters when he wears shoes, and his net height is estimated to be only about 1.83 meters.
Although he was drafted by the Hawks to successfully land in the NBA, he only got a total of 13 appearances, averaged only 3 minutes per game, averaged only 0.5 points, 0.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game, and shot only 16.7% from three-point range.
Later, the Cavaliers signed him to a training camp contract, but his performance in training was not up to the team's requirements, and he was cut a few days before the start of the season, and he had to play in the development league and wait for the opportunity to return to the NBA, which was more than a year.
In the year of waiting, he played for the Cavaliers' subordinate team, averaging 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
He doesn't have to worry about survival like other players, even if he doesn't play, he can have no worries about food and clothing, but he wants to make a name for himself in basketball and realize his value, not a rich second generation who is clothed to reach out and open his mouth, and in the United States, where basketball is full of talents, it is difficult for him to realize his wishes.
When the Liaoning team contacted him, he first did some research and learned that the Liaoning team is a strong team in the CBA, which has won two championships in the past two seasons and is trying to achieve three consecutive championships this season, and the team needs him to make up for the lack of national player Guo Allen. Knowing that he was expected to be part of a triple title, Cooper showed unprecedented excitement and soon flew with his family to Hong Kong and then to Shenyang.
Seeing the fans greet him and his family with flowers, he was very moved, whether it was with the fans or with the staff, he behaved approachable, and did not have the unruliness of the rich second generation. On the court, he worked hard at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and did his best to help the Liaoning team in the limited playing time.
At present, he has played a total of 3 playoff games, averaging 14.3 minutes per game, contributing 13.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3 assists, shooting 51.8% from the field and 44.4% from three-point range.