GOLDEN EFFORT: The summer months are often a slow time for sports, but 25 years ago on Tuesday the world was captivated by the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team.
Dubbed the “Dream Team,” the squad featured a who’s who of NBA hall of famers –– 11 of the 12 players have been inducted to the Hall, while Christian Laettner is in the college hall of fame. The man charged with leading those all-stars was a brash, snappy dresser from Kane who was fresh off coaching the “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons to back-to-back championships.
Raised in Kane, Chuck Daly honed his basketball skills in the YMCA and basement gym at the St. Callistus school. After concocting a defensive strategy for the Pistons to limit Michael Jordan’s effectiveness in the late 80s and early 90s, Daly found himself coaching His Airness that summer at the Barcelona games, the first in which professional basketball players were allowed to compete.
Daly, however, wasn’t exactly called upon for X’s and O’s during the tournament –– the Americans won their games by more than 43 points on average. The team beat Angola in its opening game by 68 points (“We were hanging in there until they made a 46-1 run in the first half to make it 86-31,’’ Angola’s coach said).
In the final, the U.S. men beat Croatia by 32 points.
The team, besides being the most dominant ever assembled, is still one of the most talked about, whether regarding why Piston star point guard Isiah Thomas was left off the team, Magic Johnson’s return to basketball after retiring due to contracting HIV or how the team coasted through the competition, seemingly spending more time on golf courses and nightclubs than on the hardcourt.
Daly, who never even called a timeout during Olympic play, has his name on welcome signs coming into his hometown of Kane. He also has his name on plaques outside the Kane High and Punxsutawney gymnasiums, the latter which is named after him in honor of his first head coaching stop.
After retiring, Daly resided in Florida and died in 2009 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 78. His wife, Terry, died in June at 88.
