NBA Legend Dies

            On march 9^th 2009 early in the morning, NBA coaching great Chuck Daly died at 78 of pancreatic cancer. Chuck Daly was born July 20, 1930, in St. Mary’s, Pa. Charles Jerome Daly played college ball at St. Bonaventure and Bloomsburg College. Daly was diagnosed in March and about 2 month later he lost his fight. He was a hall of fame coach that led the Dream Team to the Olympic gold medal in 1992 after winning back-to-back NBA championships in Detroit, Making him the first coach to win Olympic gold and a NBA championship. Daly had a career regular season record of 638-437 in 13 NBA seasons. In 12 playoff appearances, his teams went 75-51. He left Detroit as the Pistons' leader in regular-season and playoff victories. He began his NBA coaching career in 1978 as an assistant under Billy Cunningham in Philadelphia. His first head coaching job was with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but Daly was fired after the Cavaliers went 9-32 the first half of the 1981-82 season. In 1983, Daly took over a Detroit team witch had never had two straight winning seasons and then led the Pistons to nine straight. He persuaded such players as Dennis Rodman, Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer to play as a unit and they responded with championships in 1989 and 1990. Such players as Michael Jordan who Daly Coached in the have said such things as "Chuck was a great leader, I only wish I could have played for him outside of the Dream Team." Larry Bird also stated "He handled that team and its talent as well as anybody could. He treated us all with respect and had us all vying for the same goal." Chuck Daly was not only respected by other players but also by his fellow coaches. Phil Jackson who is possible the best coach of our day has said "In the heat of those battles, Chuck was always a friend of coaches, A good guy. He was always in the coaching fraternity and always extended a friendly hand." Daly has left behind his wife, Terry, daughter Cydney and grandchildren Sebrina and Connor. Losing such a legend as Chuck Daly is surly a huge loss and he will be missed by all.