Boston's Doc Rivers followed Chuck Daly as coach of the Orlando Magic in 1999. Knowing he would retire soon, Daly invited Rivers to sit in and watch his lockout-shortened training camp before the 1998-99 season Rivers never had coached before, but Daly liked him, and he wanted Rivers to be his successor. He and Rivers, who then was in television, talked throughout that season.Once Daly stepped away, Rivers leaned on him repeatedly, constantly asking him for tips and advice. Rivers spoke with FanHouse Saturday in Orlando after a film session with his Celtics team.
Doc Rivers:
"I spoke with Chuck about a week-and-half, two weeks ago, and the first thing he said was "you've got a tough draw with your big fellow out. Get your guys to hang in there, and you never know what might happen.''
"Chuck was huge for me. Coaches lean on coaches all the time. I have my group of coaches that I talk to a lot, and Chuck was at the top of that list. Losing him will be a big void for me. He was special to the game, but more importantly, he was a great guy to be around.''
"I always tell my coaches now that I thought Chuck was a genius at taking things that looked complicated and making them very simple. He could sum things up. If you thought you had a crisis -- and I had a ton of them in Orlando with the Grant Hill injuries – I'd call Chuck. There were times when I thought the whole freaking sky was caving in, and he'd say some simple thing, and I'd think 'why didn't I see that.' "
"He just had a way of making complicated things very simple, not only for himself, but for others, for his players. I thought that was his secret.''
"He and Red Auerbach, to me, were similar. When I called Red or Chuck, you'd think they would have some complex answers, but they always made it simple. They could see the game so simple, so slow. They were amazing.''
"He was a legendary coach. That's what he was, a coach. He came up through the ranks, and he had been in it forever. I always knew when I called him, that he had been through whatever experience I was talking about. There wasn't anything he hadn't already been through, and he always had the right answer.''
"The way he coached set him apart. He was tough minded, but they still called him a player's coach. And that's a rare combination.
