May 9th, 2009 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
One of the most successful NBA coaches in league history passed away Saturday morning as according to the Associated Press, former Hall of Fame and Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly has died, with the cause of death being pancreatic cancer; he was 78 years old. A class act from his first season, Daly had that innate ability to make a diverse group of players – in this case, the Detroit Pistons – mesh together and play as a team. As a result, the Pistons won titles in 1989 and 1990.
He most definitely had an interesting career as he got his coaching teeth cut while coaching for eight years at Punxsutawney H.S. (PA) then moving on to Duke as an assistant coach; in addition, he succeeded Bob Cousy as coach of Boston College, coaching the Golden Eagles to a 26-24 record over two seasons. He would then move to Penn, where in seven seasons he led the Quakers to the Ivy League championship in 1972-75.
Daly got his first NBA coaching experience as an assistant under Billy Cunningham in Philadelphia; his first head coaching job in the league was with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was fired after the team went 9-32 during the first half of the 1981-82 season. In 1983, he would take over a Detroit Pistons team which had not produced two consecutive winning seasons; during his tenure there, he would lead Detroit to nine winning seasons, capped by two NBA championships in 1989 and 1990.
After leaving the Pistons, Daly would coach the New Jersey Nets for two seasons, leading the team to back-to-back playoff appearances; he later would leave the broadcasting booth in 1997 to join the Orlando Magic as coach, winning 74 games over two seasons, then retired for good at age 68, due to the travel involved. In 13 NBA seasons, he amassed a record of 638-437, with 12 playoff appearances his playoff record was 75-51. We at Slam Dunk Central offer our sincere condolences to the entire Daly family.
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