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Sharife Cooper Rumors
In that workout, balls were passed to the trio of prospects from a familiar face: Omar Cooper, Jr. Cooper Jr., the son of Bailey’s longtime manager Omar Cooper and the twin brother of former NBA Draft pick Sharife Cooper, has been invited by the Jazz to be a guest coach for the team’s summer league slate. Cooper Jr., a senior guard who averaged 1.7 points per game for McNeese State, is looking to get into coaching after a swollen appendix cost him the majority of his season.
Omar Cooper, Bailey’s agent, told ESPN NBA insiders Jonathan Givony and Tim Bontemps that there was “nothing uncommon” about how the predraft process was handled. “Every NBA team watched him work out in Chicago,” Cooper told ESPN. “He did 18 interviews. Everyone got his medical. They watched him run and jump. They got his measurements. “No one said anything when Davion Mitchell canceled a workout with the Toronto Raptors. No one criticized Evan Mobley when he didn’t work out for Cleveland, and they drafted him anyway.”
Adie von Gontard and Daniel Green, who are both NBPA-certified and from two different agencies, are Bailey’s agents, according to numerous reports. But, Cooper has been the person managing Bailey’s pre-draft situation. Cooper, the father of former NBA player Sharife Cooper, has been a part of Bailey’s camp since Bailey relocated to Atlanta and joined Cooper’s AAU team.
During his appearance on Friday, Witlieb described the role played by Omar Cooper, who has been a main focus of criticism while acting as Bailey's adviser and not being a certified agent. "Omar really focused more on fit rather than going third in the draft, kind of thing," explained Witlieb. "He wanted some place where Ace could have the best possible basketball fit for his game, and we think Utah is one of the best possible places he could have gone."
ESPN reported that Bailey’s agent, Omar Cooper, informed one team drafting in the top five that Bailey would not report if that team chose him. It’s not clear which team that was. “The question is, is Ace Bailey going to report and what would happen if he didn’t? Windhorst asked. ”There’s not a crisis yet. What the Jazz are saying is, he’s not expected in Utah until the weekend and really what he needs to do is be there by Monday when their training camp for Summer League. “And if he’s there, no problem, hope his Jazz career gets off to a good start. If he’s not, let’s see what actions go from there.”
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Sarah Todd: A lot of this stuff has previously been reported, but I'm working to confirm it. @jakelfischer.bsky.social was first to report that Omar Cooper is not NBPA certified. There is also some reporting about some legal issues regarding Cooper that I'm working to untangle.
Sarah Todd: Ok. So, confirmed that Omar Cooper is not an NBPA certified agent. Ace Bailey does have other representation in the way of an agent, so I'm not really sure why Cooper is calling himself Bailey's agent. But Cooper is reportedly the person who has been the voice for Ace throughout the predraft process
Cooper, 50, met Bailey in the eighth grade and featured him on his travel team, Athletes of Tomorrow, before Bailey relocated 100 miles south from Chattanooga to Powder Springs, Georgia during high school. Cooper then helped route him to Rutgers, where Cooper’s friend, Brandin Knight, is the associate coach. Bailey credits Cooper, whose son, Sharife, played in the NBA briefly, and whose daughter, Te’a, played in the WNBA, for developing him.
Jeff Goodman: Bailey’s agent, Omar Cooper, also wanted to get paid to do on-camera interviews this past season. It just seems as though Ace Bailey has received some poor advice over the past year. Has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.
Multiple league sources said Bailey’s agent, Omar Cooper, wanted the Sixers to commit to him before his scheduled Friday workout. One league executive believes that Bailey, once a consensus top-three pick, probably will drop in the draft because of his agency’s tactics. Bailey remains the only American-based draft prospect to not visit any teams for a workout. Another league executive believes that the agency wants Bailey to remain on the East Coast and play somewhere between Atlanta and New York.
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There is also a perception in some corners of the league that Bailey's approach has been coordinated by representation regarded as untraditional for a top prospect: Omar Cooper of the LifeStyle Sports Agency. Cooper is the father of former Atlanta Hawk Sharife Cooper and is not currently a certified NBA agent. Adie Von Gontard and Daniel Green are the official agents of record for Bailey, but the Atlanta-based Cooper has been described by NBA teams as the point person running Bailey's pre-draft process. Cooper has yet to respond to multiple attempts of outreach from The Stein Line.
Ex-Hawks player Sharife Cooper has signed with Turkish team Merkezefendi for the 2024-25 season.
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