ORLANDO, May 24 -- The turmoil surrounding the Orlando Magic took a startling turn today (Monday) when Chuck Daly announced his retirement from coaching. The NBA Hall of Famer, who had been the team's bench boss for the past two seasons, will remain with the club in an unspecified capacity. 'It's just time to leave,' Daly said at a news conference. 'I've had a great run, a great career. This is a finale for me in coaching. This will conclude my coaching career. I'm going to be 69 in July and it's just time to leave the bench.' It was no secret that Daly and star guard Penny Hardaway did not see eye-to-eye on team strategy and the general consensus was that one or the other would leave the club during the offseason. But Daly, whose decision to retire comes as a shocker, said their strained relationship was not a factor. 'Rear-view mirrow, I don't deal with that,' Daly said. '(Hardaway) has nothing to do with this decision.' Hardaway all but pointed the finger at Daly for a lot of what he thought was wrong with the team in a somewhat rambling tirade last Monday after the Magic was ousted by Philadelphia in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. 'I don't even want to talk about (things that need to be changed),' he said when asked if he would play for Orlando next season if Daly were coach. 'I know that some changes are needed but I can only talk about things that I can deal with.
My feeling is that Orlando will never respect me unless I leave.' He added, 'They've labelled as uncoachable and too thin-skinned. This environment is too hostile for me. This is a town for guys who don't have to take a lot of the pressure. It's a fun world for other guys. It's not a fun world for me.' The 68-year-old Daly, who coached the Detroit Pistons to back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and '90, guided the Magic to a 33-17 record this season. That tied them with Miami and Indiana for best record in the East. In his two seasons with the team, Orlando was 74-58. It was his first stint on the bench since he left the New Jersey Nets after the 1993-94 season. 'I still think I can do it another year,' he said. 'It's a hard decision. I've done it my entire adult life. It's the only kind of lifestyle I know. It's a hard thing to walk away from, but it's the right decision at this time. This is a personal thing about knowing when it's time to leave.' General manager John Gabriel said, 'We are obviously very sad that Chuck is retiring, but we are glad for the two years this Hall of Famer joined us. We want to thank him for something that isn't very easy to do -- to have the fire each and every season. He gave his heart and his soul, the best that anyone can ask of a coach.' In 14 seasons, Daly had just one losing season and only two that did not end with a playoff berth. His career record was 638-437 in the regular season and 75-51 in the playoffs. His first NBA head coaching job was with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1981-82 season. His first season in Detroit was 1983-84 and he lasted there until 1991-92. In addition to the two NBA Championships, his stay in Detroit included five Central Division titles, an appearance in the 1988 NBA Finals, three Eastern Conference titles and five 50-win seasons, including 63 in 1988-89. Daly took over the Nets in 1992-93 and guided them to an 88-76 record and consecutive playoff berths. The Nets had six straight losing seasons before his arrival. Daly was appointed coach of the first-ever Dream Team and led Team USA to an 8-0 record and the gold medal in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Daly and Atlanta's Lenny Wilkens are the only two coaches to have both an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994 and served as a broadcaster for Turner Sports for three seasons before joining the Magic.
