Te'a Omari Cooper (born April 16, 1997) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who played for the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). She played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Baylor Lady Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

, and the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

Early life

Cooper played high school basketball for

McEachern High School John McEachern High School or McEachern High School is a public high school established in 1933 in Powder Springs, Georgia, United States. It was originally established as the Seventh District Agricultural and Mechanical School. Due to its histo ...

. In her freshman year,

was undefeated as they finished 33–0. She shot 65 percent from the field. She won three Georgia 6A State titles in 2012, 2014 and 2015, and she was the co-MVP of the 2015 McDonald's All-America game.

Professional career

On April 17, 2020, the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

selected Cooper as the 18th pick in the

2020 WNBA draft The 2020 WNBA draft was the WNBA, league's draft for the 2020 WNBA season. A draft lottery was held on September 17, 2019 and the New York Liberty were awarded the first overall pick in the draft. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States ...

. Due to the global pandemic from COVID-19,

were forced to cut some of their players from the team in May 2020, including Te'a Cooper. The

team took this as an opportunity to transfer some of the

players to play for them, and Cooper was picked to play as a point guard. From her previous college 3-point range (56-of-135 for 41.5%), can prove to the Sparks coach,

Derek Fisher Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Fisher played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Los ...

, how well of a point guard and shooter she can provide for his team, despite her being a rookie. Cooper continues to gain experience and skills from the other players in the

team. Cooper's current average for about 17 minutes in a game consists of making around 7.3 points and having about 2 assists. On August 13, 2020, the

played against the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

, leading Cooper to have one of her best games of the season with 10 points (5-of-6 shooting) with 3 assists, all within 19 minutes of playing time. After a 3-year hiatus, she would make her return to professional basketball in December 2024 by signing with

Tarbes Gespe Bigorre Tarbes Gespe Bigorre (often called Tarbes GB or TGB) is a French women's basketball club, taking part to the professional French league for women, the LFB, and to European Cups (now EuroLeague Women). It is the most important club sport in the t ...

of a French Women's Basketball League for the 2025 season.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

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2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

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Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

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, 31 , , 13 , , 22.0 , , .379 , , .324 , , .750 , , 1.7 , , 1.4 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 1.8 , , 9.1 , - , align="left" , Career , , 51 , , 16 , , 20.1 , , .401 , , .330 , , .754 , , 1.5 , , 1.6 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 1.7 , , 8.2

Playoffs

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, 1 , , 0 , , 21.0 , , .250 , , .500 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , Career , , 1 , , 0 , , 21.0 , , .250 , , .500 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , , 3.0

College

Source

Personal life

Te'a Cooper is the daughter of Omar and Kindall Cooper. She has three siblings: Mia (Imani) and twins Sharife and Omar. Sharife was drafted by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

in 2021. Te'a dated

Dwight Howard Dwight David Howard II (born December 8, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Superman" for his athletic prowess, he is an NBA champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, five-time All-Defen ...

and the pair became engaged in 2019. In 2021, Cooper and Howard parted ways. Cooper once dated

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

running back

Alvin Kamara Alvin Mentian Kamara (born July 25, 1995) is an American professional football running back for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers after transferring from Hutchi ...

. Cooper and Kamara welcomed a baby girl, Stori Kamara, on December 25, 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Te'a 1997 births Living people American women's basketball players Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Baylor Bears women's basketball players Los Angeles Sparks players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Basketball players from Montclair, New Jersey Phoenix Mercury draft picks Tarbes Gespe Bigorre players Point guards 21st-century American sportswomen