Lenny Cooke

{{short description|American basketball player}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Lenny Cooke | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1982|4|29}} | birth_place = Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 6 | weight_lbs = 206 | high_school = *Franklin K. Lane <br> (Brooklyn, New York) *La Salle Academy <br> (Manhattan, New York) *Northern Valley Regional <br> (Demarest, New Jersey) *Northern Valley Regional<br/>(Old Tappan, New Jersey) | draft_year = 2002 | career_start = 2002 | career_end = 2006 | career_position = Shooting guard | career_number = | years1 = 2003 | team1 = Brooklyn Kings | years2 = 2003–2004 | team2 = Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | years3 = 2003–2004 | team3 = Shanghai Sharks | years4 = 2004 | team4 = Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | years5 = 2005–2006 | team5 = Rockford Lightning | years6 = 2006 | team6 = Minot Skyrockets | highlights = * All-USBL Second Team (2003) * USBL Rookie of the Year (2003) * USBL scoring champion (2003) }}

'''Leonard Cooke''' (born April 29, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player.

Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey,<ref name=resisting>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/16/sports/sports-of-the-times-resisting-the-scouts-isn-t-easy.html|title=Sports of The Times; Resisting the Scouts Isn't Easy|author=Araton, Harvey|date=December 16, 2001|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> he is known primarily for having been ranked higher than LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony in 2001. He averaged 25 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks per game in his junior year of high school. Following his junior year in high school, he averaged 31.5 points for the first eight games of his senior year. When he turned 19 in 2001, he was academically ineligible to play according to high school athletics' rules in his home county in New Jersey.

Cooke is the subject of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival selected documentary film ''Lenny Cooke'' by the Safdie Brothers.

== Early life == Cooke was born to Vernon and Alfreda Hendrix (née Cooke): his mother gave birth to him before marrying, so he carried her maiden last name.<ref name=farrey>{{Cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/ncb/s/2002/0301/1343347.html|title=For Lenny Cooke, it's all academic|author=Farrey, Tom|date=March 1, 2002|website=ESPN.com|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> Cooke has three younger siblings, brothers Vernon and Darius and sister Tierra.<ref name=recruiting>{{Cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/recruiting/s/cooke.html|title=Cooke makes best move off the court|author=Mayemura, Mark; Benezra, David|website=ESPN.com|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> Cooke's mother worked as a dealer at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and he attended middle school there; the family later moved to Bushwick, a neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, where they lived in a poverty-stricken block.<ref name=farrey /> Cooke's parents struggled to find employment, and the family lived in poor conditions: they could not afford to pay for heating, so that they had to use boiled water and an open oven to warm their house during winter.<ref name=farrey />

== High school career == Cooke, who was already {{height|ft=6|in=4}} in 8th grade,<ref name=recruiting /> enrolled at Franklin K. Lane High School, in Brooklyn: he struggled academically, and failed grade 9.<ref name=farrey /> He moved to La Salle Academy on the Lower East Side of Manhattan from 1999 to 2000 where he repeated grade 9 and attended the fall and spring terms of grade 10.<ref name=farrey /> At La Salle, Cooke was an all-city selection,<ref name=recruiting /> averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds per game<ref>{{Cite news|title=NVOLD TAPPAN - Outlook|newspaper=The Record|date=December 14, 2000|page=15}}</ref> despite having started playing organized basketball only at the age of 16, when he was noticed by a friend while he was playing at a playground in Brooklyn<ref name=farrey /> and was invited by him to try out for the Long Island Panthers AAU team.<ref name=recruiting /> When the building he and his family lived in was condemned, and in an attempt to improve his academics, Cooke moved in with a friend, Debbie Bortner, who was his summer league coach and the mother of one of his teammates at La Salle,<ref name=draft>{{Cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/2c50f3dc5365e7dcefebe68863ed53a1|title=Lenny Cooke Enters NBA Draft|author=Hutchinson, Mike|date=June 25, 2002|website=APnews.com|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> and went to live in an affluent suburb in Old Tappan, Bergen County, New Jersey.<ref name=farrey /><ref name=draft /> The rest of his family moved to Virginia.<ref name=resisting /> He initially enrolled at Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest and later at Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, and played under coach Kevin Brentnall.<ref name=recruiting /> In the summer of 2000, Cooke earned Underclassmen MVP honors at the Adidas ABCD Camp.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://abcdcamp.net/mvps.html|title=MVPs and Players of the Week|website=abcdcamp.net|accessdate=May 25, 2019|archive-date=June 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624004718/http://abcdcamp.net/mvps.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> That summer he also played in the Rucker League, played at the Rucker Park in New York City, and was the second leading scorer, averaging 23 points along with 12 rebounds per game; during the competition he faced professional players like Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen, Zach Randolph and Omar Cook.<ref name=recruiting /> Around this time, Cooke was diagnosed with a learning disability in the language area, and tested in high levels in matrix reasoning, meaning that he had advanced capabilities in activities like puzzle solving.<ref name=farrey />

Cooke was a highly regarded young basketball player in high school, in the various basketball camps, and the AAU and tournaments. At one point he was considered one of the top recruits in the country, along with rival contemporaries like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Amar'e Stoudemire.<ref name=top100>{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/recruiting/s/010815top100.html|title=Class of 2002: Top 100 seniors|date=April 10, 2001|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> ESPN ranked him as the second best senior in his class behind Anthony and before future NBA players like Stoudemire, Raymond Felton and Chris Bosh.<ref name=top100 /> Joakim Noah was one of his close friends.<ref name=nytimes2012>{{cite news |last=Araton |first=Harvey |date=March 3, 2012 |title=Star-to-Be Who Never Was |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/sports/basketball/lenny-cooke-star-to-be-who-never-was.html}}</ref> One of the featured anecdotes of the biographical movie ''Lenny Cooke'' was the 2001 ABCD Camp matchup between Cooke, the NYC area phenom and defending camp MVP, versus the lesser-known phenom from "nowhere" LeBron James, in which LeBron effectively supplanted Cooke as the most highly regarded prospect in the country. At the 2001 ABCD Camp, Cooke averaged 16.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks.<ref name=focus>{{Cite news|url=https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/focus-lenny-cooke|title=Focus: Lenny Cooke|date=July 12, 2001|author=Sullivan, Mike|website=Rivals.com|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref>

At the end of the 2001–02 school year, Cooke had a year left to graduate, but had exhausted his high school basketball eligibility. In the 8 games he played in his senior season at Northern Valley, Cooke averaged 31.5 points and 15 rebounds per game.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/nbadraft/tracker/player?playerId=18339|title=Draft Tracker - Lenny Cooke|website=ESPN.com|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> Against the advice of Bortner, he chose to transfer to Mott Adult High School in Flint, Michigan, where he worked to get his equivalency diploma and work on his basketball game.<ref name=draft /> Ineligible for school play, he was confined to pickup games and tournaments.

On March 8, 2002, he scored 21 points to help the Eastern Conference defeat the West 115–103, at the EA Sports Roundball Classic at the United Center in Chicago.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://a.espncdn.com/highschool/s/2002/0326/1358803.html|title=Old Tappan's Cooke leads East to victory in Roundball Classic|date=March 26, 2002|website=ESPN.com|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> At that point, he was rated #4 High School Player in the United States in the Prep Stars Recruiter's Handbook.

==Professional career==

=== Brooklyn Kings (2003) === At the end of the 2001–02 school year, Cooke had multiple options for basketball: North Carolina, Seton Hall, St. John's, Miami and Ohio State<!--Wikipedians do not use "The" as part of Ohio State's name; it is considered a marketing gimmick, and routinely deleted.-->.<ref name=focus /> He professed a preference for St John's in the NYC area, but it was never clear whether he would have been eligible.<ref group=notes>His academic record was spotty, and reportedly he had never bothered to take college entrance exams such as the SAT or ACT.</ref>

Amid enticing agent promises that explicitly stated a dozen NBA teams were seriously considering him and at least three guaranteed they would take him in the 1st round if he were available,<ref name=cookemovie>{{cite AV media |people=Safdie, Ben; Safdie, Joshua (Directors) |year=2013 |title=Lenny Cooke |medium=Motion picture |location=USA |time= |quote=}}</ref> Cooke chose to bypass college and declare himself eligible for the 2002 NBA draft, a decision that ended his eligibility to play college basketball.<ref name=draft /> Cooke participated in the Chicago Pre-Draft Camp, where he was measured at {{height|ft=6|in=5.5}} without shoes, {{height|ft=6|in=6.5}} with shoes, with a {{height|ft=7|in=1}} wingspan;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.nba.com/media/bulls/predraft_sizes_02.pdf|title=2002 Pre-Draft Camp Heights and Weights|date=2002|website=NBA.com|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> during the camp he injured his big toe and this limited his performance at the camp to only one game.<ref name=draft />

To his surprise and disappointment, in the 2002 NBA Draft, all 29 NBA teams passed on Cooke in both rounds.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2002.html|title=2002 NBA Draft - Basketball-Reference.com|website=Basketball-Reference.com|accessdate=18 July 2017}}</ref> Because he was not selected, Cooke became a free agent, eligible to sign with any NBA team that wanted him.<ref group=notes>According to the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement, any potential player who wants to play in the NBA must go through the draft selection process once. If unselected, as Cooke was, a player then becomes a free agent, with the ability to negotiate and sign his first NBA deal with any team at any time.</ref>

That summer, after being bypassed in the NBA Draft, he played in the Rucker Park Summer League in New York for the Terror Squad team. Later in 2002, Cooke was drafted by the Columbus Riverdragons of the NBDL in the 11th round (87th pick) of the 2002 National Basketball Development League draft.<ref>{{cite news |title=NBDL Completes 2002 Draft |url=https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/nbdl-completes-2002-draft/n-1977634 |access-date=February 10, 2021 |work=OurSports Central |date=October 31, 2002}}</ref> In April 2003, he tried out for the Brevard Blue Ducks of the USBL, and in May 2003 was signed by the USBL's Brooklyn Kings.<ref>{{Cite news|title=BASKETBALL|newspaper=The Salina Journal|date=May 19, 2003|page=12}}</ref> In 15 games, he averaged 28.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.8 steals per game,<ref>{{Cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070122080711/http://www.thebrooklynkings.com/games.asp?d=4|url=http://www.thebrooklynkings.com/games.asp?d=4|title=2003 Statistics|website=thebrooklynkings.com|archive-date=January 22, 2007|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> winning the USBL Rookie of the Year award, being selected in the All-USBL Second Team and leading the league in points average, offensive rebounds (4.7) and steals per game (2.8).<ref name=usblawards>{{Cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070122080823/http://www.thebrooklynkings.com/games.asp?d=5|url=http://www.thebrooklynkings.com/games.asp?d=5|title=2003 Season in Review|website=thebrooklynkings.com|archive-date=January 22, 2007|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/espn/magazine/archives/news/story?page=magazine-20031013-article8|title=BUYER BEWARE. LENNY COOKE THOUGHT HE WOULD HAVE IT ALL. NOW HE WONDERS WHAT'S LEFT|author=Farrey, Tom|website=ESPN.com|date=July 10, 2012|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> He scored a season-high 53 points against the Adirondack Wildcats on June 22, 2003.<ref name=usblawards />

=== Purefoods TJ Hotdogs (2003–2004) === Cooke played well enough with the Kings that the Boston Celtics invited him to play on their summer league team for the 2003 Reebok Pro Summer League,<ref name="03summer">{{cite web |title=Reebok Pro Summer League Team Rosters |url=http://www.nba.com/celtics/summerleague/03SL_TeamRosters.html |website=NBA.com |publisher=NBA |access-date=February 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923064358/http://www.nba.com/celtics/summerleague/03SL_TeamRosters.html |archive-date=23 September 2017}}</ref> but that was the closest he ever came to playing in the NBA.<ref name=nytimes2012/> While he played in several games, to his lasting disappointment he didn't get in the game when his team played the Cleveland Cavaliers' summer league squad featuring their just-drafted LeBron James.<ref name=cookemovie/> Later in the summer of 2003, Cooke returned to play in the Rucker Park Summer League.

In the 2003–04 basketball season, he first played in the Philippine Basketball Association for the Purefoods TJ Hotdogs: during the 2003 PBA Reinforced Conference, Cooke averaged 37.9 points and 17.1 rebounds per game, leading the league in both statistical categories.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.philstar.com/sports/2005/08/19/292307/will-cooke-come-back|title=Will Cooke come back?|newspaper=The Philippine Star|date=August 19, 2005|author=Henson, Joaquin M.|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref>

=== Shanghai Sharks (2003–2004) === Cooke then had a stint with the Shanghai Dongfang Sharks,<ref name="nytimes2012" /> where he averaged 28.3 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game over 13 appearances in the 2003–04 Chinese Basketball Association season.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://english.worldhoopstats.com/stats/cba-cn/lenard-cook-101255.html|title=Statistics from Leonard Cook in CBA|website=worldhoopstats.com|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref>

=== Return to Purefoods (2004) === In the 2004–05 basketball season, Cooke returned to the PBA's Purefoods team but tore his Achilles' tendon, ending his season.<ref name="nytimes2012" />

=== Rockford Lightning (2005–2006) === In 2005–06, Cooke played for the Rockford Lightning of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and averaged 3.9 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists over 20 games (7.4 minutes per game).

=== Minot Skyrockets (2006) === In 2006–07, Cooke played 13 games for the Minot Skyrockets, averaging 10.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/p-cookelen001|title=Lenny Cooke Statistics|website=statscrew.com|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> before blowing out his other Achilles' tendon, ending his career.<ref name="nytimes2012" />

==Legacy==

Late in the summer of 2005, the NBA changed its rules to prevent future players from jumping directly from high school to the NBA by requiring all its players to be at least 19 years old and one year removed from their high school graduations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbpa.com/cba/2005|title=CBA - National Basketball Players Association|publisher=|accessdate=18 July 2017}}</ref> One-time phenoms like Cooke, whose development was stunted by a haste to get to the NBA too quickly, are considered to be the impetus for the change.<ref name=cookemovie/>

Cooke is the subject of the 2013 documentary ''Lenny Cooke'' which documents his athletic rise, fall, and subsequent life after basketball.<ref>{{IMDb title|tt2606924}}</ref> The film, made by the Safdie Brothers, was entered in the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

== Personal life ==

=== Family === According to the New York Post, Cooke has seven children, including his eldest son, Anahijae Cook (born March 9, 2000),<ref name="recruiting" /> who also played basketball at the high school level.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Clark, Charles |date=September 20, 2018 |title=Anahijae Cooke: The Son Of Lenny Cooke Is Looking To Do Major Things In NC This Year!! |url=http://www.basketballelite.com/index.php/basketball-news/anahijae-cooke-the-son-of-lenny-cooke-is-looking-to-do-major-things-in-nc-this-year/101497 |access-date=February 10, 2021 |website=basketballelite.com}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kussoy |first=Howie |date=2021-12-15 |title=Lenny Cooke, prep star who rivaled LeBron James, finds peace |url=https://nypost.com/2021/12/15/lenny-cooke-prep-star-who-rivaled-lebron-james-finds-peace/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |language=en-US}}</ref> He has been married and divorced.<ref name=":0" />

=== 2001–2002 === When Cooke's fame was at its peak, he was hanging out with celebrities like Fat Joe and Foxy Brown and was a regular at Club Chaos and Cheetahs Gentlemen’s Club. He owned a Lincoln Navigator (which was later repossessed) and had a line of credit drawn against his future earnings. When Cooke decided to sign with an agent before the draft, he was given $350,000 in cash at a hotel meeting. Cooke spent all of the money within 18 months. First, he bought every home and away jersey at the NBA Store. Then, he went to Jacob the Jeweler and bought a $10,000 watch. Later, he bought a house and a car for his mother.<ref name=":0" />

=== Car accident === Cooke was in a car accident in December 2004 that resulted in a broken shin, broken femur, and months of using a wheelchair for mobility. Cooke says that if Master P hadn't paid for the surgery, his left leg would have been amputated. The accident occurred in Beverly Hills where his Long Beach Jam teammate, Nick Sheppard, was driving and lost control of his car, crashing into a light post. Cooke spent a week in a coma and underwent two surgeries to have a pair of rods inserted into his leg that stretched from his hip to his ankle. <ref name=":0" />

=== Post-basketball career === Cooke never obtained a college degree but was briefly enrolled at Atlantic City Community College.<ref name=":0" />

In 2008, he signed with a basketball team in Kuwait, but decided instead to retire and return to Virginia. The injuries resulting from the car crash and the two Achilles injuries caused Cooke's weight to eventually shoot up to 320 pounds. After retiring from basketball, Cooke found a job with a food distributorship.<ref name="nytimes2012" /> In 2016, he returned to basketball as an assistant coach at Atlantic City High School and Middle Township, in addition to working at basketball camps and clinics.<ref name=":0" /> He also works as a motivational speaker, sharing his mistakes with a younger generation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-06-29 |title=Lenny Cooke’s message to kids: Don’t be like me |url=https://www.mcall.com/2018/06/29/lenny-cookes-message-to-kids-dont-be-like-me/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Morning Call |language=en-US}}</ref> Additionally, he has worked as an impact specialist at Volunteers of America, helping homeless people and recently released inmates reintegrate into society, and hosts local gun violence awareness events.<ref name=":0" />

He has aspirations of going to culinary school and dreams of one day owning his own restaurant and food trucks.<ref name=":0" />

==Notes== {{Reflist|group=notes}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.lennycookemovie.com/ Lenny Cooke film] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060428084055/http://www.nba.com/dleague/players/lenny_cooke.html NBA Development League] * [http://www.nba.com/draft2002/profiles/lenny_cooke.html NBA.com]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Lenny}} Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen Category:21st-century American sportsmen Category:American expatriate basketball people in China Category:American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines Category:American men's basketball players Category:Basketball players from Bergen County, New Jersey Category:Basketball players from Brooklyn Category:Long Beach Jam players Category:Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots players Category:Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest alumni Category:Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan alumni Category:Philippine Basketball Association imports Category:Rockford Lightning players Category:Shanghai Sharks players Category:Shooting guards Category:United States Basketball League players