Cynthia Cooper is a great basketball player. For years she could not make money playing the game she loved in the United States. Finally, in 1997, her dream came true when the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) was formed. Cooper's return to the United States was successful, as she led the WNBA in scoring and earned regular season Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors. Just when she thought her season could not get any better, her Houston Comets won the first-ever WNBA Championship with Cooper earning the championship game MVP award. For all these reasons, basketball experts dubbed the sharp-shooting guard the "Michael Jordan of the WNBA."

Growing up

Intelligent, strong black woman

Cynthia Lynne Cooper was born April 14, 1963. Her mother, Mary Cobbs, sacrificed to raise Cooper and her seven siblings. "When I was growing up, my family had it tough," Cooper told the Los Angeles Times. "And I never...