Hooper vs Hoopster — Basketball Player Evolution
By: Richard Mcsharry
Tags: Basketball, Hooper

Say Hi to Hooper — mascot of the NBA team “Detroit Pistons”

Whilst browsing Facebook I read the below discourse that infuriated me. It is such an offensive foul, I felt someone needed a good swat.

Dennis’s comments are typical of those teachers we all suffered from — those arrogant and condescending “know it alls”…who love to put others “in their place”. So…

Smackdown* time!

FAO: Dennis Young Sr.

As a retired teacher myself I find your comments embarrassing beyond belief. The arrogance you display is beyond words…or maybe not, I’ll give it a try:

You of all people (being a teacher of English!) should know that language evolves through common usage.

Whilst 'Hoopster' has been around since 1915, 'Hooper' — as you are about to discover —has begun to replace it in common usage, since at least 1996.

'Hooper' is not a “made up word" as you stated.

Furthermore, regarding your belief that it is not a slang word equivalent to 'Hoopster', again, you are incorrect; I present evidence below. Like any rational person, as new evidence is presented, I encourage you to adjust your beliefs.

For instance, your beliefs about dictionaries.

FYI the Oxford English Dictionary (from OU Press) is the official arbiter of the English Language, with etymology going back over a 1000 years. For words to be added/updated in the OED there is a very rigorous academic process applied (unlike MW).

I expect you don’t know that MW has been known to use online polls to add new words! WTH?! That’s a foul if ever I saw one.

MW is most definitely not a good reference source, as you can see here:

https://waronpants.net/.../why-i-dont-use-the-merriam.../

*They added Smackdown. Hilarious.

MW also deletes words regularly. Another foul.

The OED never, ever deletes a word. It is thus more than a dictionary — it is the history of our language.

Etymology of Hoopster and Hooper

As you correctly stated in your first comment, originally the term was “cagers”, but this was only for the first few decades of the sport (since the game was most often played inside a cage, as I expect you know).

The game evolved, as did the word used to refer to players.

It continues to evolve today.

As already pointed out by Michael, the word Hooper was originally a profession (a Cooper’s assistant); the OED first citing is in 1552.

‘Hooper’ is an old-fashioned term that fell out of general use, as Coopers (kūpe ‘cask’, middle Dutch/German) started to take over the work of their assistants (the Hoopers). By the time basketball was invented (1891), the term Hooper was likely already old-fashioned and out of use; thus the term ‘Cooper’ would have been more commonly used for anyone making baskets/casks/barrels.

Thus contrary to what Michael Zaracostas claimed, using “Hoopster” to refer to players is not because of the link to the profession of basket/cask/barrel making — since Hooper was already out of common use by then (1891).

If Michael was correct, then it likely would have been “Coopsters” ;)

So where did “Hoopsters” originate?

In 1902, the out of bounds rule in basketball was abolished, and so cages — which had been added to instantly return the ball into play — went into decline (even though they had tended to only be used in the North East). So as cages disappeared it made no sense to continue to call the players ‘cagers’, and it started to fall out of use. Basketball culture was ripe for a new slang word to refer to players…

The crucial turning point came in 1906, when the baskets were replaced by metal hoops in front of backboards. So as the game evolved, naturally ‘cagers’ began to be replaced by wider usage of the term ‘hoopsters’….and if wider usage of ‘hooper’ continues today, as it appears to be doing, it will soon supplant ‘hoopsters’.

The earliest recorded use of ‘hoopsters’ is 1915, a mere 9 years after hoops replaced baskets:

“Tables Turned By Aggies On B.Y. Hoopsters” — The Logan Republican [Logan, UT] 23 February 1915

The Merriam-Webser entry for ‘Hoopster’ incorrectly states the first use was 1934. So don’t trust everything it says!

As a point of interest, the word ‘hipster’ was not in general use until the 1930’s, so ‘Hoopster’ even predates that. Take note that hipster no longer has its original meaning.

Furthermore, Dennis, being an English teacher, you should know that there can be many slang terms for the same thing; and simply because a dictionary does not reference the term, does not mean that it is not in common use; nor that it is a made up word.

Herewith some evidence of modern usage:

2018: “Hoopers” vs “Basketball Players”

2011: Rice University entry for “Hooper”

It’s pretty clear that the word Hooper is replacing Hoopster.

Why might that be?

For the same reason language has always evolved — culture shift. It feels old-fashioned in the world of Bloggers, Youtubers, Tweeters and TikTokers.

I’d happily place a bet that MW will have an entry soon enough…then you can come back and edit your comment.

Finally, I think you should recognise that whilst there are lots of hoopers,

there is only ONE Hooper — the team mascot of NBA team the Detroit Pistons. Hooper was ‘born’ March 3, 1996.

Go Hooper!

Hooper might be made up, but he’s got a real name, a Proper noun, derived from a real noun. Your dictionary, like all dictionaries, is behind the times, due to the time needed to ‘accept’ a word as official.

Kinda like you, sir.