Barcelona US 'Dream Team' coach Daly dead at 78

Chuck Daly, who guided the 1992 US Olympic "Dream Team" to gold at Barcelona, and coached Detroit to two National Basketball Association titles, died Saturday at his home. He was 78.

The Detroit Pistons, who won the 1989 and 1990 NBA crowns under the Hall of Fame coach, announced that Daly passed away at his home in Jupiter, Florida, after revealing in March that he was fighting pancreatic cancer.

"The void left by his death will never be filled," NBA commissioner David Stern said.

"Chuck did much more than coach basketball games. He positively impacted everyone he met, both personally and professionally, and his love of people and the game of basketball helped develop the next generation of coaches."

Daly went 638-437 in 14 seasons as an NBA coach and had a massive impact on the game -- both as coach of the physical and fight-prone "Bad Boys" Pistons of the late 1980s and as leader of some of basketball's most storied players.

"I can't explain in words how much he gave me as a player and a man," former Pistons star guard and NBA coach Isiah Thomas said. "This is an immeasurable loss for the NBA and the entire basketball world."

After guiding the Pistons to back-to-back crowns, Daly was selected to coach the 1992 US Olympic squad in Barcelona, the first Games to feature NBA talent.

His "Dream Team" featured superstars Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Karl Malone and is considered the greatest team ever assembled.

The all-star squad romped through the competition for gold, winning by an average 43.8 points a game with Daly shuttling superstars for every game.

"He was a great coach. He knew how to relate to the players," Ewing said. "We had a lot of fun playing for him."

Daly was renowned for getting major stars with disparate personalities such as Dream Team members Jordan and Charles Barkley to work together on the court.

"If you're going to have to beg them to play, it's not going to work," Daly once said.

The man his Detroit players nicknamed "Daddy Rich" for his impeccable suits was credited with turning the lowly Pistons into a perennial powerhouse, having taken them to the playoffs in each of his nine seasons with the team.

"He was a very shrewd guy in his coaching and how he would use his players to gain the team unity that he wanted," fellow Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsay said.

"They were good, but I didn't think they were a championship team," Ramsay said of the 1989-1990 Pistons. "I think he got them to be a championship team."

In April, the National Basketball Coaches' Association announced it was dedicating the current 2009 NBA playoffs to Daly, who had been undergoing cancer treatment.

"He was a mentor and a friend," former Pistons coach Doug Collins said. "He taught me so much and was always so supportive of me and my family. I loved him and will miss him."

Daly was a high school coach at college assistant before taking charge for two seasons at Boston College and seven more at Penn before his first NBA job in 1978 as an assistant under Philadelphia coach Billy Cunningham.

Daly took his first NBA head coaching post at Cleveland in 1981 but was fired after a 9-32 start. In 1983 he took over the Pistons, who had never managed consecutive winning seasons, and made them winners for nine seasons in a row, peaking with back-to-back NBA titles.

"Chuck left a lasting impression with everyone he met both personally and professionally and his spirit will live with all of us forever," Pistons vice president of public relations Matt Dobek said.