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NBC Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Hall of Famer Don Nelson wins 2025 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award from coaches association
Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson picked up another accolade on Sunday, being honored with the 2025 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, handed out by the National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA). Nelson, who retired from coaching in 2010 (after coaching Stephen Curry in his rookie season), is the only coach to have at least 250 wins with three different franchises. Nelson is second all time in wins as a coach (1,335) and games coached (2,398). 'History has already reflected Don Nelson's staggering contributions as a cutting-edge innovator and visionary of the NBA game,' said Indiana Pacers Head Coach and NBCA President Rick Carlisle. 'Back in the '80s and '90s, he made teams adjust to historic pace, liberal 3-point shooting, inverted offense, and disruptive defensive schemes. All this while establishing himself as one of the most compelling personalities in all of professional sports. I'm certain that Chuck Daly would agree that our beloved 'Nellie' is most deserving of this prestigious recognition.' 'I'm extremely grateful and humbled to receive this incredible honor and join the exclusive list of coaches who have preceded me,' said Nelson. 'Chuck Daly was a dear friend of mine and someone I respected immensely due to his class, character, and of course, his coaching ability. He may not have influenced my wardrobe, but Chuck certainly had a lasting impact on my coaching philosophy, style, and most importantly, how I managed the personalities on a roster... 'To say that I'm deeply touched to receive an award that bears his name would be an understatement. This is special.' Nelson was a five-time NBA champion as a player with the Bill Russell-era Boston Celtics who went on to coach for 31 seasons with the Bucks, Warriors, Knicks and Mavericks. He was also the coach of the USA Basketball gold medal team at the 1994 World Championships. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2012.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
"He just came down and hit the next 5 shots in a row" - Magic Johnson on the trash talk moment that pushed Jordan to go all out in famous Dream Team practice
"He just came down and hit the next 5 shots in a row" - Magic Johnson on the trash talk moment that pushed Jordan to go all out in famous Dream Team practice originally appeared on Basketball Network. Various stories have been told of that legendary scrimmage in Monte Carlo, the kind of mythic run that sits somewhere between lore and history in the collective memory of basketball fans. It wasn't televised, and there were no fans, just the best players on Earth pushing each other past the edge of greatness inside a gym overseas in the summer of 1992. Advertisement And yet, despite the absence of cameras, that practice became one of the most documented off-record games the sport has ever known. Jordan's fire From the lens of Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, simple trash talk ignited something and made the scrimmage highly competitive. "One thing I did that got Michael Jordan going is we were up about 10 points, and I went over and said, 'Michael, if you don't turn into Air Jordan, we gonna blow you out,'" Johnson said. "What did I say that for?… He just came down and hit the next five shots in a row, and it was amazing." The gravity of that moment didn't exist in isolation. It was a byproduct of a genius move from head coach Chuck Daly, who sensed something missing from the Dream Team's early tune-ups. The players were already dominating their Olympic warm-up opponents. Advertisement The solution was to create internal competition. Daly drew a line: East vs. West. And the atmosphere in the Monte Carlo gym shifted. The teams were stacked with Hall of Famers: Johnson and the superstars from the West, and Michael Jordan and the superstars from the East. There were no fans in the stands, but it might as well have been Game 7 of the Finals in there. This was about supremacy — within the squad, within the league, within the era. Jordan had a personal edge walking into the scrimmage, and it wasn't just Johnson. It hadn't been long since the 1992 NBA Finals, where the Chicago Bulls faced Clyde Drexler and the Portland Trail Blazers. Much had been made of Drexler as Jordan's equal; even Johnson had publicly praised the matchup beforehand. Jordan responded with a 35-point first half in Game 1, including six 3-pointers, then a record. That wasn't forgotten. So there was residue when Drexler lined up opposite Jordan in the Dream Team's intrasquad game. This was just one of the number of personal rivalries on show in that scrimmage. Taking over Before the Olympics and even before the scrimmage tipped, Jordan had approached Johnson alongside Larry Bird — the twin pillars of the NBA throughout the 1980s — and told them that there was a new sheriff in town and wanted to walk the talk. Advertisement "I got a chance to really see Air Jordan," Johnson said. Because once that trash talk hit him, Jordan erupted. He came with precision executions, rising against the hand, backed by a will that had decided not to be mocked. By the end of the run, Jordan had turned a 10-point deficit into a lead. He had orchestrated stops, called out coverages, and even demanded who he would guard. The gym fell silent in those stretches, not from awe but from sheer focus. Players like Charles Barkley would later say it was the best basketball they'd ever been part of. The East vs West divide had faded. It was now Jordan vs everyone, and he was winning. Coach Daly let it all happen without interruption. He didn't blow the whistle. He didn't stop the run. Because even he knew something rare was unfolding. That 1992 practice became a time capsule of the game's transition and the future dominance of the Dream Team. Advertisement Related: Magic Johnson says Dream Team started his friendship with Michael Jordan: "I could throw it anywhere, he was going to go get it and dunk it" This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
"I'ma die because things are going to hell" - Dennis Rodman on why he locked himself in the house for a month after the Pistons broke up
Dennis Rodman's exit from the Detroit Pistons was a deep emotional rupture that nearly swallowed him whole. This was the man who bled for the "Bad Boys," crashing the glass and taking charges like his soul depended on it. He had two championships and the Defensive Player of the Year award, yet by the early 1990s, everything had unraveled. "The Worm" had lost his team and identity. Rodman's retreat After head coach Chuck Daly, whom the 6'7" forward considered a father figure, resigned after the 1991–92 season, that exit hit hard. Rodman retreated inward. For nearly a month, he locked himself inside his house. There was no press, no phone, just silence and the chaos in his mind. He had his reasons. Advertisement "Just trying to figure out what direction I was going," he said. "It wasn't a death wish for me, of course. I'm a die because things are going to hell, no. It was more like trying to get things together, pretty much." The Pistons dynasty that terrorized the league from 1988 to 1991 had cracked open. The bruising battles with Jordan's Bulls, the grindhouse mentality that defined the Daly era, and the brotherhood forged in sweat and blood disintegrated in real time. Rodman's world tilted, and with no roadmap, he shut down. His anchor, Coach Daly, was gone. The Pistons were no longer a contender, finishing the 1992–93 season with a 40–42 record, missing the playoffs for the first time since 1983. Off the court, things were no better. His marriage to Annie Bakes, the mother of his daughter Alexis, had collapsed, adding another layer of pain to an already volatile emotional state. Advertisement Rodman wasn't speaking to many people. He missed training camp. His rebounding numbers were still elite; he averaged 18.3 boards that year, but the fire inside him had dimmed. By February 1993, the darkness was overwhelming. One night, he drove to the Palace of Auburn Hills with a loaded rifle in his truck. He sat there in the silence of the parking lot, wrestling with himself. The story, which he later shared in "Bad As I Wanna Be," doesn't end with tragedy but with a quiet turning point. He fell asleep in the truck. Police, acting on a welfare check requested by a friend, found him there. He didn't pull the trigger. He woke up. And something shifted. Related: Andrei Kirilenko was ready to sacrifice millions to escape the Jazz in 2007: "I don't want to enjoy something that I don't deserve" Moving out By the 1993-94 season, Rodman was no longer in Detroit. He had been traded to the San Antonio Spurs, a franchise worlds away in culture and chemistry. The Spurs weren't the rough-and-tumble Pistons. They were calm, disciplined, built around the quiet dominance of franchise cornerstone David Robinson. Advertisement But Rodman wasn't looking to fit in. He was trying to stay alive. "I am going to persevere in the city or go somewhere else," he said, reflecting on that moment of change. Rodman was now fully in the power forward role, and on the hardwood, he went ballistic. He averaged 17.3 rebounds per game, his third consecutive rebounding title and earned another NBA All-Defensive First Team selection. He wasn't trying to return to the man he used to be in Detroit. He was becoming someone entirely different. Off the court, his eccentricity exploded — technicolor hair, on-court antics, late-night club runs. San Antonio gave "The Worm" space to evolve or combust, depending on the night. The Spurs made the playoffs that season, and Rodman, despite the friction with coaches and media, made his presence undeniable. Related: "He had a po'boy pulled down over his sunglasses" - Phil Jackson recalls Dennis Rodman's bizarre first meeting with Bulls
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
"Don't think! - Chuck Daly's priceless advice to Dennis Rodman during the Pistons' championship years
Dennis Rodman was a unique basketball player in the sense that he didn't do his damage by scoring or out-dribbling his foes. "The Worm" crashed the boards like a big man, and the twist was, he stood just 6'7". Rodman embraced his identity. Denniss knew the Pistons didn't pick him 27th overall in the 1986 NBA Draft because he had a smooth stroke. The New Jersey native got paid for hustle and heart for rebounding and defending. Advertisement "I'm not in this league because I'm a great shooter," said Dennis in 1989, per the Los Angeles Times. "But it's hard for people to really stay with me because I have such a tremendous work ethic as far as going for the ball. It's mine. It belongs to me coming off that rim." "Eaton only blocks shots," the Worm said, referring to Utah Jazz big man Mark Eaton, who won the 1989 Defensive Player of the Year. "But I play total defense. I shut my man down. I rebound. I run the floor and make steals." Trust your gut A special player needed a special coach. Chuck Daly was tasked with unlocking Rodman's potential. The legendary head coach noticed how Dennis seemed powered by his emotions. Advertisement "Dennis the Menace" was a so-called "Energizer Bunny" who thrived on chaos, melancholy, and a pure will to win. Chuck relentlessly told his forward to trust his instincts because they almost always lead him in the right direction. "He still screams, 'Don't think! Don't think!' at me when I start thinking too much, I mess up," Rodman said. "When I just go out there and work my tail off, play my game, I play a whole lot better." This golden tip propelled a second-round pick to one of the defensive aces and a rebounding machine. With the Pistons, Dennis won two Defensive Player of the Year awards and two rebounding titles. The sweetest part? Rodman won back-to-back NBA championships and earned a place in history as a legend. Related: "I was probably emotional and upset and directed a lot of that anger toward the team" - Hill admits he regrets how his career in Detroit ended The "Zen Master's" tactics After his stint in Detroit, Rodman spent two odd seasons with the San Antonio Spurs. He was late for practices and was slapped with multiple suspensions. Dennis also feuded with the players, coaching staff, and the front office. The two parties couldn't get along. Advertisement It seemed that his career was about to go downhill. Luckily, "The Worm" was sent to the Chicago Bulls, a stacked team that featured a legendary coach: Phil Jackson. Like Daly, Phil knew how to manage the wild forward. As observed by Steve Kerr, the "Zen Master" employed an unorthodox method in coaching Rodman. "The idea of giving someone vision, and then letting them go and then occasionally reigning them back in show them the vision again, letting him go again, that's powerful," Kerr said. "To me that's coaching these players are arduous they are so gifted at this level, especially. You know, if you're going to call every play and try to orchestrate everything, you're overthinking things and not letting players be who they really are. The way Phil coached Dennis was genius," he added. Daly and Jackson's tricks were vastly different, but were both effective. They knew there was no use in taming the beast. All they could do was transform this animalistic instinct into something beneficial. They succeeded in this regard, as evidenced by the five rings on Rodman's hefty resume. Related: "When you factor size, I don't know how you could say there's ever been a better rebounder" - Chuck Daly said Dennis Rodman is the rebounding GOAT
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
"He's lost himself" - Chuck Daly on Rodman's eccentric persona after leaving the Pistons
When you think about Dennis Rodman and his legacy, you naturally first think of his eccentric off-court persona, wild style, unique character, and ultimate team-pay greatness, which helped Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls three-peat for the second time in the 1990s. However, "The Worm" was far from that person once he entered the NBA with the Detroit Pistons back in 1986. Under coach Chuck Daly, Rodman went from being a second-round pick to a crucial part of the two-time champions "Bad Boys." Just a shy and lanky kid out of Trenton, New Jersey, Dennis didn't stand out for anything but his defensive play and hustle. Advertisement So naturally, when Daly saw what Rodman had become after his 1993 Pistons departure, he couldn't help but wonder where the Dennis he knew was. "That's Dennis's problem," Daly says. "He's lost himself; he can't see where one starts and the other ends. He's convinced he has to play up to that. I know that's not him. The shy kid I met is who he is." Intervention As the Pistons let go of Daly after two unsuccessful postseason runs in a row in 1992, Rodman felt like he had lost a father. This would lead to a rift between "The Worm" and Detroit's management, as he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in 1993. Advertisement From there on out, tattoos, colorful haircuts, various public relationships with women, public scandals, and plain flashy behavior took over his persona, earning him the nickname "Dennis the Menace." While it was fun, being in Rodman's skin wasn't easy, as he was dealing with money problems, lawsuits, trouble with authorities, and mental health issues, in addition to his basketball career taking a low turn before arriving in Chicago. However, even after he retired from basketball and the NBA, Dennis wasn't done with his rockstar lifestyle. It got so bad that Dwight Maley, Rodman's image maker, got cornered and started calling people around, trying to set up an intervention for his former client. "If you see Dennis, please bring him over to my office," Manley says. "'I want to try and set up an intervention. I've talked to Michael Jordan. He said he'd do anything to help, and I'm trying to reach Chuck Daly." Advertisement Related: Michael Jordan told Phil Jackson that Scottie Pippen was the second-best player on the 1992 Dream Team: "He was a legitimate star" No stopping the party However, taming the five-time champ at this point was easier said than done. He had gone too far, and it was hard to turn around and change at his point. Even when Rodman would have his down days and regret all the money splurging and party lifestyle filled with various vices, it wouldn't be enough to commit to getting right. "We went into the back and he told me, 'I'm going to lose everything — please, please help me.' He was crying so hard, the snot was pouring out his nose. I told him to make the first step, to call me, but he never did. He's just a shadow of what he was. It breaks my heart," he added. Advertisement Well, Dennis never shied away or left that image, but thankfully, nowadays, in 2025, he seems to be doing alright and stable. He hasn't gone broke like some of his peers, and it seems he has caught somewhat of a grip on life. All while never stepping away from his bad-boy persona, which earned him the majority of his fame in the first place. Related: "Don't think! - Chuck Daly's priceless advice to Dennis Rodman during the Pistons' championship years
