Nicknamed "Coop",[2] he played for the Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, and Denver Nuggets from 1978 to 1992.

[2] He then studied at University of New Orleans (UNO) after being scouted by its associate coach, Don Smith, who described Cooper as a "tall, skinny kid who could really shoot".

During his senior year in 1977–78, Cooper recorded 18.1 PPG and 12.7 RPG as the Privateers won the Sun Belt tournament championship.

[2] Cooper made his NBA debut on October 14, 1978,[2] scoring two points to go along with two rebounds against the San Diego Clippers.

After improving his PPG to 11.0 in the 1979–80 season and finishing ninth in offensive rebound percentage (12.1) in the NBA, he was traded to the Utah Jazz on September 11, 1980, in exchange for Bernard King.

Cooper was subsequently traded for the third time in three seasons on June 28, 1982, to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Kelvin Ransey.

[8] He was eventually traded with Fat Lever and Calvin Natt to the Denver Nuggets on June 7, 1984, in exchange for Kiki VanDeWeghe.

Throughout his NBA career, Cooper played in 984 games and scored a total of 7,777 points in the regular season.

[2] After retiring as a player at the end of the 1991–92 season, Cooper remained with the Trail Blazers and worked in its front office for two years.