Cynthia Cooper-Dyke
(Born 1963)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2010
Card Shown:
2009-10 Panini Hall of Fame
Famed Signatures
Position: G
Height: 5’10”
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Cynthia Cooper-Dyke was the first superstar of the WNBA. She was the cornerstone of the Houston Comets teams that won the first four WNBA championships after the league was formed in 1997. A three-time WNBA All-Star, Cynthia won titles in college, with Team USA, and in the WNBA. She will go down in basketball history as one of the best players to ever play the game.
Awards and Honors
- Cooper-Dyke played college basketball at the University of Southern California (USC) and teamed with Cheryl Miller to lead the Trojans to two national championships in 1983 and 1984.
- Cynthia, Katrina McClain, and Teresa Edwards led the USA to a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Cooper-Dyke also won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
- Cooper-Dyke, Tina Thompson, and Sheryl Swoopes formed a “Big Three” in Houston that won the first four WNBA championships. Cynthia was named the WNBA Finals MVP each time.
- She was also named the regular season WNBA MVP in 1997 and 1998.
- In 2009, Cynthia was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. The next year, in 2010, she became the first WNBA player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Springfield.
Points of Interest
- The WNBA was not formed until eleven years after Cooper-Dyke finished her college career at USC. In the meantime, she played for Team USA and thrived as one of the top players in Europe, playing for teams in Spain and Italy.
- Cynthia led the WNBA in scoring in three consecutive seasons from 1997-1999 with very consistent averages of 22.2, 22.7, and 22.1 points per game.
- Cooper-Dyke was the first WNBA player to score 500, 1000, 2000, and 2500 points. She finished her five-year WNBA career with averages of 21.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game.
- In 2006, as part of the WNBA’s ten-year celebration, Cynthia was named to the WNBA All-Decade Team along with nine other players.
- After her playing days ended, Cynthia became a college basketball coach. She coached at Prairie View A&M, UNC Wilmington, Texas Southern, and USC.
Statistics
Cynthia Cooper-Dyke Statistics
provided by Basketball-Reference.com