When it comes to changing the basketball landscape, one name dominates the answer: Michael Jordan. From college basketball to conquering the NBA, MJ did it all. His name is also still relevant today because of his stature and revered figure. But did you know that a WNBA legend, too, had a similar career of domination, which earned her the title of Female MJ? Cynthia Cooper-Dyke was one such trailblazer.

To give context, there was no WNBA when Cooper was at the peak of her powers. At the age of 34, she signed with the Houston Comets in the inaugural season of the W. What transpired next was a remarkable feat of four-peat, yes, 4 back-to-back titles alongside Finals MVP in all 4 years. The performance and influence earned her a Naismith Hall of Fame nomination in 2010. That’s when she dabbed Michael Jordan at the event.

The 62-year-old spoke about her relationship with ‘His Airness’. “MJ is my GOAT. He was one of the guys that, when I was being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, hey, you guys, do not judge me, but this actually happened. It was natural. So they say, Cynthia Cooper, and I get up to walk up on stage, and Michael Jordan right there, so I just tapped him on his b*tt like, ‘Yo, your girl is in the building. I’m like, boo, Cooper’s here.’ Did I mention I was rough around the edges?”

The conversation from Cooper was on the All the Smoke podcast. As stated before, her influence was way before the WNBA started. That is why Nike did not hesitate to sign her to the brand in 1999, another convergence in the long-standing career of two all-time greats of the sport. In fact, the many parallels of their lives are uncanny!

Why Cooper feels the comparison with Michael Jordan is justified

On the surface, Cynthia Cooper only played in the league for 4 years, then turned to head coaching. But she managed to be at the forefront of the dynasty that won 4 straight titles, a feat even MJ could not achieve. But that’s not the real comparison, as she went on to claim: “I was the Michael Jordan of women’s hoops. That’s real!! Trust me. It’s real and I’ll tell you why. The similarities between me and Michael? Man, they were crazy.”

Both legends share the same birth year, 1963, and from there on it gets even more interesting. Michael Jordan and Cooper were the top high school players in their respective states. Both stayed in their home states during their college programs; MJ chose UNC, and Cooper chose USC and brought laurels to their respective college. But there’s more still!

In the conversation with Players Tribune, Cooper revealed that by 1998, MJ was already the GOAT, but her WNBA career had just begun. She capped off: “We both established ourselves as elite scoring guard prospects. You see what I’m saying? It’s these parallel paths. After that, though, our paths diverged.” No wonder the Bulls legend had so much respect for the 4x WNBA champion as an icon of the game!