Under Daly, 'Dream Team' cruised to Olympic gold
Chuck Daly became the first coach to win NBA titles and an Olympic gold medal. The challenges of coaching the original Dream Team in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain, were more in dealing with his own players than the opposition.
Chuck Daly became the first coach to win NBA titles and an Olympic gold medal.
The challenges of coaching the original Dream Team in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain, were more in dealing with his own players than the opposition.
The Americans scored more than 100 points in each of their eight wins and their victory margin averaged nearly 44 points. Daly did not call a timeout during the tournament.
"He laughed about that in later years," said Don Casey, a longtime friend who coached against Daly's Penn teams at Temple and against him in the NBA. "He said he should've called a timeout or two, because he could've gotten more TV exposure, maybe gotten some deals from that."
Daly had a golden touch with the Dream Team, using a different lineup every game. The roster featured Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin, John Stockton and Patrick Ewing, among others.
"He handled that team and its talent as well as anybody could," Bird said. "He treated us all with respect and had us all vying for the same goal."
Daly humbled the NBA superstars by coaching a group of college players to victory in a controlled scrimmage weeks before the Olympics.
"I was the happiest man in the gym," Daly said. *