NBA, Olympic Coach Chuck Daly dies at 78
Former NBA, Olympic coach Chuck Daly dies at 78. Chuck Daly dies Saturday morning in Jupiter, Fla., with his family by his side. He was being treated for pancreatic cancer.
Chuck Daly was coached the 1992 Dream Team in Olympics and the notorious Detroit Pistons that win back-to-back NBA championships. Dream Teamers like Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. And the Detroit Pistons who were notorious for their physical play like Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn, Rodman, Dumars and Hall of Fame guards Isiah Thomas.
Charles Barkley added: “I never understood how a great man, a nice guy coached the Bad Boys.”
Daly had a career regular-season record of 638-437 in 13 NBA seasons. He was voted one of the 10 greatest coaches of the NBA’s first half-century in 1996, two years after being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Chuck Daly was the only Hall of Fame coach to win both NBA and Olympic titles.
Chuck Daly was born on July 20, 1930, in St. Marys, Pa., Charles Jerome Daly played college ball at St. Bonaventure and Bloomsburg. He coached for eight seasons at Punxsutawney (Pa.) High School and six years as an assistant at Duke. Daly joined the NBA coaching ranks as assistant coach of Philadelphia. He became head coach with Cleveland but fired after the Cavaliers went 9-32. Daly took over a Detroit team in 1983 with players like Rodman, Thomas, Dumars, Mahorn and Laimbeer they won championships in 1989 and 1990.
Daly also coached the New Jersey Nets for two seasons and led them to the playoffs both times. He also coached Orlando Magic and won 74 games over two seasons, then retired at 68. The Detroit Pistons retired No. 2 in 1997 to honor Daly’s two NBA titles.
