Sharife Cooper happy to join hometown NBA team
Former Auburn and McEachern guard selected 48th in the 2021 NBA Draft
According to so many projections, Auburn guard Sharife Cooper wasn’t supposed to be available with the 48th selection of the NBA Draft on Thursday night.
The Atlanta Hawks are glad he was. And the way things turned out, Cooper is, too.
“We had him ranked much higher, obviously, than 48th,” said Travis Schlenk, the general manager of the Hawks, after adding Cooper to the Atlanta roster in the draft’s second round, “so we got excited when we saw him there late.
“Just a really, really good playmaker. Good with the ball in his hands. Very good passer. Pushes tempo. Has the ability to get to the foul line. He did come in and work out for us and shot the ball much better than he did this last year, so we feel like the jump shot will be there, so we’re excited to add him to our program.”
Before Cooper played a season at Auburn, he starred at McEachern High School, about 25 miles from where the Hawks play their home games at State Farm Arena.
“I feel like God doesn’t make any mistakes,” Cooper said, “so the draft is in the past, and I couldn’t be more thankful that the Hawks took a chance on me, and that’s kind of my focus for now. I’m with the Hawks, and everything else is in the past. …
“It was definitely a long night, but when I was finally able to hear my name called by the Atlanta Hawks, everybody went crazy. It was just a crazy feeling – everybody yelling and screaming, seeing my mom smile, my dad happy, my brother happy, so that’s probably one of the best moments of my life, for sure.”
The Hawks played in the Eastern Conference title series last season, but the team hasn’t reached the NBA Finals since 1961, when the franchise played in St. Louis.
“Growing up here in Atlanta watching the Joe Johnsons and the Josh Smiths and all the old guys,” Cooper said, “and seeing the success that they have today, that’s something that I dream of being a part of and can’t wait to get started. …
“I feel like the team was right there in terms of getting over the hump. Without a couple of knickknack injuries, I feel they
probably would have won that series.”
The Hawks made a playoff run in 2021 after missing the postseason for the previous three seasons. With the improvement of the Atlanta roster and the presence of all-star Trae Young, who plays the same position as Cooper, could mean the rookie gets some seasoning with Atlanta’s NBA G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, Schlenk said.
Cooper’s freshman season at Auburn got off to a late start because of eligibility concerns and ended early because of an ankle injury. In the 12 games in between, Cooper averaged 20.2 points, 8.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds.
“As we’ve shifted from a development team to more of a, say, contending team, but a competitive team,” Schlenk said, “I think it’s fair to say that all our of young guys may have an opportunity to go down there and get minutes. We’ve kind of had a shift where the last few years we’ve drafted somebody and we would put them on the floor so they’d get that experience. Now because of the depth of our roster, I think it’s very fair to say you’ll see the guys we draft moving forward, in order to get them the development and playing time that they need, that that’s going to take place with College Park from time to time.”
Cooper’s sister, Te’a Cooper, plays for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, and he has a twin brother.
“It’s extremely competitive in the household of the Coopers,” Sharife Cooper said. “The day before the draft, we was outside playing three-on-three because my dad was talking a little trash, so we went outside and played three-on-three. But it’s just stuff like that happens all the time, especially when you’ve got young siblings that’s close in age and my dad is young, so it’s a lot of competition. I feel like that is what makes me me. It helps me when I play against other people.”
Cooper’s next game likely will be in Las Vegas as part of Atlanta’s team in the MGM Resorts MGM Summer League Aug. 8-17.
“I still got a lot of work to do,” Cooper said on Friday afternoon. “It’s still surreal for now. I can’t wait to put the jersey on and finally get going in Vegas.”