DETROIT (AP) — Chuck Daly, who coached the original Dream Team to the Olympic gold medal in 1992 after winning back-to-back NBA championships with the Detroit Pistons, died at age 78 Saturday morning, the Pistons said.
He was renowned for his ability to create harmony out of diverse personalities at all levels of the game, whether they were Ivy Leaguers at Pennsylvania, Dream Teamers Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, or Pistons as dissimilar as Dennis Rodman and Joe Dumars.
"It's a player's league. They allow you to coach them or they don't," Daly once said. "Once they stop allowing you to coach, you're on your way out."
The Pistons announced in March 6 that the Hall of Fame coach had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was undergoing treatment.
Daly 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. He was the first coach to win both an NBA title and Olympic gold.
He was renowned for his ability to create harmony out of diverse personalities at all levels of the game, whether they were Ivy Leaguers at Pennsylvania, Dream Teamers Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, or Pistons as dissimilar as Dennis Rodman and Joe Dumars.
"It's a player's league. They allow you to coach them or they don't," Daly once said. "Once they stop allowing you to coach, you're on your way out."
The Pistons announced in March 6 that the Hall of Fame coach had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was undergoing treatment.
Daly 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. He was the first coach to win both an NBA title and Olympic gold.
